Two Different Worlds
by AkidoChick19
Summary: He's just a regular guy trying to live a normal life, and she's a cruel woman with a shady past. What would happen if they joined together? *NEW* CHAPTERS 39-40 UP! Super sorry about the hiatus! PLEASE REVIEW! -
1. Meet Ash

**_DISCLAIMER: I don't own Evil Dead! I don't own Bruce Campbell or any of Sam Raimi's franchises. In fact, I don't own anything except for a ratty old sweater and some Tupac CD's. May I remind you, I am poor. So poor in fact, that my family has to eat cereal with forks just to save milk. (THAT IS NOT FUNNY!) Anyway, this is just something I was thinking of one rainy Tuesday. _**

**_MUAHAHAHAHA! _**

**_Leave nice reviews!_**

**_Dearborn, Michigan, 1993_**

Ashley J. Williams was just an average guy. He walked, talked, dressed, and acted like the average man. With the exception of his delapitated right forearm, yeah, you could say that he was a regular guy. Tall, somewhat handsome, and with a cynical "out there" personality, he was virtually avoided by everyone and anyone who came in contact with him,especially when he began to rant and rave about the undead creatures he supposedly had fought. His co-workers thought he was crazy, but that was okay by him. He preferred to be alone, and this exact attitude led him to trust no one, half the time not even himself. He could go on and on about how he was going to become "king" and rule the world, but that's another story.

Ash let out a prolonged sigh as he began to trudge down the long toy aisle, where he'd just finished restocking a new shipment of Furbys. He hated the fluffy little bastards, and didn't understand how parents would buy that crap for their kids. They'd end up breaking in a week anyhow, and if you wanted something that was furry, exceptionally hideous, and yapped all night long, why not get a puppy? He shoved his hands into his pocket as he began to walk, the heavy heels of his shoes clicking against the hard tile floor. He'd worked at S-Mart for the last three years, and had yet to get a promotion. Cheap sons of bitches. As far as he was concerned, he was the hardest working guy in the place, if not the most deserving. There were days when he'd just wake up and wonder why he was still alive, and today was one of those unfortunate days.

He suddenly felt himself cringe, and the fine hair on the back of his neck stood on end as a high, unreasonably shrill voice rang out from behind him. Ash then turned around to see his manager, Ted charging down the aisle, carrying a very broken Furby in his hands.

"Williams! What did you do?" he practically screamed, shoving the smashed toy in front of him. Ash shrugged casually, as if he hadn't stomped the hell out of it less than fifteen minutes ago.

"The damn thing looked at me wrong." he answered finally, gesturing towards the plastic culprit. Ted sighed heavily and glared at him, with an expression that just screamed, "Dude, you need _serious_ help".

"IT'S A DAMN FURBY!" he exclaimed loudly. So loudly in fact, that a few customers heard his dramatic outburst and immediately left the store. "HOW CAN IT POSSIBLY LOOK AT YOU WRONG?!"

Ash shrugged in an attempt to keep himself from laughing.

"Hey, I don't know how, but the furry little bastard did."

Once again, Ted gave him a punishing glance, one that threatened to fire him although he didn't have the authority.

"Just go, Ash..." he said tiredly, pointing an index finger to the back of the store. "Go...stock shelves or something."

Ash turned around and did what he was told, quite satisfied with himself by the fact that he'd used his "mental condition" to get out of being downsized. He'd done it before, and got a real kick out of it. It seemed like that and killing Deadites were the only real joys in his life, well, besides the Playboy channel. But nonetheless, Ash still had the eerie feeling that he shouldn't be alive, and today was going to be an unlucky day.


	2. A Damsel in Distress

_**Disclaimer: I don't own shit. Don't sue me. As I told you God knows how many times, I am poor. Please belive me!PLEASE!!!! I ain't got nothin' and I ain't do nothin'!**_

**_(The not-so mysterious author then sticks her tongue out at the audience, and stealthily flees into the night on a riding lawn mower.)_**

****

**_Transylvania, 1893_**

All night, terrible visions clouded her mind as she slept. Visons of men ransacking her village, then killing her mother and kidnapping her father as she helplessly watched from her bedroom door. She was just a child at the time, and she didn't understand what was happening, but sh knew why.

_"Tell us where it is, peasant!"_

_"I shall never tell you, as long as there is breath in my body!"_

The imaginary sounds of gunfire paired with the metallic clangs of swords and terrifying screams was enough to rouse her from a turbulent slumber. All of a sudden, she found herself sweating profusely, and her breaths were heavy and labored. She quickly let her eyes scan around the room, only to see that her things were organized, as she had left them the night before. Her dresser was untouched, snd her vanity was spotless, as it should be. But something didn't feel right. Something was missing. Then it hit her:_ Was it still there?_

Panickingly, she quickly jumped out of her bed and ran down the flight of stairs into the dark cellar, paying no attention to the fact that she couldn't see. She knelt down onto the floor and viciously began ripping up the rotten floorboards, hoping that the Book was hidden under there, as it had been for years before. But as she dug deeper, she began to lose hope. A silent gasp clung in her throat as she saw nothing but raw dirt underneath the cellar. The Necronomicon was gone.

_"Nos Foratus Ex Mortus!"_

An uneasy feeling shot through her as she heard those words. She then glanced out the window before her to see a dark mist overshadowing the land, and deep thunder brewing in the distance. She wanted to stop it, but it was already too late. The demons had been summoned, and the portal had already been opened.


	3. Deja Vu

**_Okay...now that we've officially established the fact that I am broke, don't bring up ANY type of action (legal or illegal) against me. I'm 15! I live with my parents, for cryin' out loud!!!_**

****

* * *

Hours later, Ash sat lazily at his post, which was basically a tiny desk equipped with a phone that hadn't worked for years, doing what he did best: nothing. At this time of year, sales were kinda slow, and the most he found himself doing was stocking shelves. Hell, he was getting paid for it anyway, so why not make the best of it? The worst he'd ever done was the time he got busted trying to feel up the huge bras in the women's department...but those were the days. Since people already thought that he was a few grapes shy of a fruit salad, nobody bothered to stop him, that is, until the time he accused a Cabbage Patch doll of insulting his "manhood". It started as a joke, but management didn't quite get it. As a result, he did a week-long stint in the Dearborn Mental Institute, or "the loony bin", as he preferred to call it. 

He was just in the middle of counting the ratty, torn holes he'd shot in the ceiling when he heard terrifying screams coming from the front of the store. He hated that. People screaming always made him slightly nervous, no matter how many times he'd heard them. Now, these weren't your normal, average, "oh-I've-seen-a-rat-in-the-cereal-aisle" type of scream. These were the ever rare "Oh-my-God-flesh-eating-zombies-have-invaded-our-world-and-are-going-to-kill-us" type of screams. But yet, sooner or late, he knew this was bound to happen. Some nutjob found the damn Book, and to make matters worse, they actually read from it. Ash let out yet another discontented sigh as he grabbed the trusty Remington shotgun and surplus shells he regularly kept in his desk drawer and sped out the double doors.

As soon as he got ther, the sight was indeed not pretty. Deadites swarmed the place, preying on poor, innocent bystanders and sucking the dear life out of their unsuspecting bodies. He could see some of their rotten bones and decomposing flesh nearly fallling off their dusty bones. It was a dirty job, indeed, but someone had to do it. Ash then let his eyes wander into Aisle 5, where he saw a nasty sight. A Deadite was just standing there clutching a woman's crumpled body in his hands, staring at him with a nasty grin on what was left of its face. He groaned in obvious disdain.

"God, don't you undead sons of bitches _ever_ give up?"

Before he could fire a shot, a straight arrow whizzed past him and lodged itself into the thing's skull, blowing it to bits and sending green chunks of rotten brain matter flying all over the place.

"What the hell?"

**_Okay, whaddya think? Leave nice reviews! All suggestions would be greatly appreciated!_**


	4. Van Helsing's Daughter?

**_Now, back by unpopular demand..._**

**_Random squeaky voice: MEEEEE!!!_**

**_(Some skinny kid otherwise known as "AkidoChick" pops out the top layer of a three-tiered cardboard birthday cake in the Scooby-Doo pajamas her mother bought about a year earlier and starts doing the Running Man.)_**

**Okay, that was totally retarded, but hey, that's how I am. I'm a weird, crazy, nonconformist person. **

**(Hmmmm..._no wonder_ why I like Evil Dead.) **

**But I now digress.**

* * *

Ash then looked to his left to see that the guy who had just killed the Deadite was in fact, a woman. But she didn't look half-bad. The woman had big, bright green eyes, smooth caramel- colored skin, and glossy black hair that ran past her shoulders. She was wearing a tight, slightly torn red tank top, baggy black jeans, and matching black workboots. The lady was basically made of legs, and the small, moon-shaped scar underneath her right eye made her seem attractive, but in a cold, distant, Tomb-Raider sort of way. But he didn't have time to stare at her, mainly becuse he had to shoot the zombie behind her. 

"Hey, ugly!" Ash called out, taunting the beast with a swift wave of his undamaged hand. "Come get some!"

The Deadite changed its pace and headed straight for Ash. Since years of experience and watching underrated B-movies (Tee-hee) taught him a lot, he instinctively grabbed his trusty rusty chainsaw out of nowhere and sliced the undead bastard from belly to groin. The thing cried out in the most unbearable pain, but did Ash care? Hell no. He took his shotgun, pointed at the Deadite's chest, and fired, sending it crashing into a pyramid of neatly organized soup cans. He turned back to the lady, and smiled, but that faded as soon as he realized that she was holding a crossbow to the back of his head. Ash put his hand up in defense as he tried to elaborate.

"Look,baby...I'm on your side."

"Silence!" the woman barked harshly, her foreign accent like none that he had ever heard before. "I am not your baby!"

Ash then cracked a smile at the dirty thoughts forming in his mind.

"You sure about that?"

She scowled once and hit him in the back of his head with the butt of her crossbow, so hard that he could swear he felt his brain rattle. Whatever he said sure as hell pissed her off.

"Do not play games with me! "she spat through clenched teeth, once again pointing the sharp end of the bow to the back of his throbbing skull. "Tell me where it is!"

Ash groaned in annoyance and rubbed the back of his head, still a bit dizzy from the impact. He'd never let a woman hit him like that, but today was an exception.

"Where is what?" he answered fiercely, throwing her an evil glance that threatened to kill her if she dare repeat that action.

"The Book of the Dead! Where is it, you son of a pig?"

Ash sighed once again before continuing, trying to keep himself from slicing her in half.

"Listen, lady. First of all, It's 'son of a bitch'. If you want to insult me, at least do it properly. Secondly, as I have told you before, I am on your side. I'm looking for the goddamn Necronomicon too. And third, if you hit me one more time, I may be forced to do something so awful that both of us will eventually regret it."

The woman withdrew her weapon, but the scowl etched onto her face was unchanged. At first, it was particularly unattractive, but as he got a better look at her, it began to get kinda cute, in an "if-you-touch-me-I'll-blow-your-freakin'-head-off" sort of way.

"You got a name, sweetheart?"

The woman shot him a cold, vicious glance and nodded slowly.

"My name is Nitaliyah," she said after a few seconds. "Nitaliyah Van Helsing."

Ash eyed her uneasily with one eyebrow raised, as if in mistrust.

"Uh huh..." he continued blandly, discreetly letting his eyes sweep the length of her nicely sculpted body.


	5. Over the Dateline and Through the Woods

**_ Okay you guys, I'm sorry about the extra-long hiatus, i just needeed some time to reflect...or get the hostile lesbian sharing a jail cell with me off my back. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new-and-IMPROVED chapters. _**

_** So in closing, leave reviews, don't be no fool, and STAY IN SCHOOL!**_

What seemed like hours later, the two woke up in a strange world, one that was populated with mayhem, chaos, and the occasional villager frantically screaming that he was on fire. Ash groaned in apparent dissatisfaction and pulled himself up off the damp ground, at the same time struggling to survey his surroundings. The place was eerily dark, and the only light came from the many houses and shops that were set ablaze. The putrid smell of smoke combined with rotten flesh and burning hay began to choke him, but there was no doubt in his mind that this was the handiwork of Deadites, or some other form of other worldly undead legion. He tried to help Nitaliyah up, but being the so called self-empowered woman that she was, she refused his kindness and shook herself out of his grasp.

"Get your hands off me, pig!" she snarled, a few of her bones cracking as she attempted to stand upright. Ash scoffed and shook his head, at the same time rolling his eyes.

"Look, sweetheart. If we're gonna work together, at _least_ try to refer to me as something other than 'pig'."

Nitaliyah painted on a fake smile and tilted her head to the side, her eyes wide and unblinking.

"I apologize, you filthy, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a syphilitically infected man-whore." she answered, her bright green eyes flaring with strong cynicism. Ash smiled and nodded proudly. Well, at least she got the 'man-whore' part right.

"Good. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?"

She scoffed and plodded down the darkened path, Ash trailing closely behind her. In a word, the place was creepy. Darkness surrounded them, and the thick bushes and naked winter trees didn't add much to the effect. The only light serving to guide them was the full moon, which casted long, eerie shadows onto the ground when either of them moved. It began to make him nervous, and just because of that, he kept his chainsaw steady...waiting for anything to pop out of the brush and decapitate something.

"What is this place?" he asked, trying hard to disguise the fear in his voice. Nitaliyah sighed and shook her head, still staring out in front of her.

"Transylvania." she replied in her strange, slightly Romanian accent.

"This is my home...or at least it used to be."

Ash looked at his watch only to see that it had stopped. The hands were frozen on exactly ten o'clock, the same time the cataclysm struck in Dearborn that morning. How the hell could that have happened?

"That won't do you any good, Mister Williams." she said immediately, looking back at him out the corner of her eye. "As we were going through the vortex, we broke the barriers of the international date line as well as the space-time continum, so technically your wristwatch won't work here since it's still 1895."

Ash rolled his eyes in apparent contempt of her...unnecessary intelligence. He knew that all of that basically, but he couldn't spin it into geek-speak. As much as he hated to admit it, this broad was way smarter than most of the women he was used to dealing with on a daily basis.

The two of them stopped as they reached a large castle in the middle of the forest. For a few seconds, Ash stood marveling at it. It was nearly six stories high, and made of solid grey brick. The large, polygon-shaped windows were made of stained glass, and gargoyles were ornately placed on each tier of the castle. It looked more like a church actually, so much that he expected to see nuns praying fantically in a corner somewhere.

"HALT! Who goes there?"

The harsh voice of a man could be heard coming from ahead of them. Ash cringed as he saw a bulky, bullishly large man appear out of the darkness. He was a conderably bald man, with an awkward, egg-shaped head and ears that were similar to an elf's. His fat face was covered in pimples too large to be mistaken for acne, and the thick red beard covering half of his greasy face did absouloutely nothing for his appearance. A second man appeared, this one shorter than the first. His face wasn't as pimply as the other's, but his facial features reminded Ash of a constipated bulldog. A long mane of shaggy grey hair fell onto his shoulders, and Ash could swear that he could see fleas moving through the man's scalp. Although he wasn't as fat as the other man, he was still sort of thick around the torso; his tightly fitting clothes being proof of that. Nitaliyah took a deep breath before replying, sheathing her sword at her side.

"I am Nitaliyah Van Helsing, and my father owns this castle."

Both men laughed at her, and Ash could see Nitaliyah's face redden in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. The laughter continued for at least thirty more seconds, just long enough for her to remove her hand from the hilt of her sword.

"Van Helsing?" the fat one said, wiping his beady eyes with his finger.

"Him an' all his kinsmen 'av been dead for goin' on ten years now! How ar' we suhposed tah know that _you_'re a Van Helsing, li'l girl?"

Ash could see that her eyes darkened, and an evil scowl quickly passed across her face. If anything she looked completely pissed off, out of either the fact that her family name was being insulted or some brainless moron had just called her a little girl. She seemed like she was going to kill them, but they both knew she couldn't risk that chance. Deadites had a unique taste for blood; they could smell it from miles around. If she killed these guards, then a swarming legion of the undead would swarm the castle, and their chances of finding her father and preventing the Apocalypse would be slim to nothing. He had to think of a plan...and within a few seconds, he had one. Without a word, Ash took Nitaliyah into his arms and kissed her fully on the mouth, her eyes wide with surprise. He slipped Linda's promise ring onto her right forefinger while she was in shock, then fully released her. Nitaliyah staggered around drunkenly for a few seconds, absoloutely speechless.

"We're married." he said proudly, grabbing Nitaliyah by her waist so that she looked like she was standing. He smiled inwardly as he saw the guards' jaws drop open in disbelief.

"Married?" they said in unison. Ash smiled devilishly and nodded, then held her limp hand up so that the committment ring was visible.

"It was a quickie Vegas thing, but good old Daddy Dearest gave us his blessing. Say hello to Mrs. Nitaliyah Van Helsing--er--Williams."

"This can't be!" the grey-haired one said, his voice tightening some.

"Well it is." Ash added, once again kissing Nitaliyah full on her lips. For a more or less dramatic effect, he clamped one of his hands on her soft yet surprisingly well-shaped rear end then turned to her and smiled.

"Isn't that right, sweetheart?"

The fat guard directed his gaze over to Nitaliyah, who was still in mental shock from Ash's one-sided display of public affection. Nitaliyah nodded blankly, her wide green eyes blankly staring off into space. She mumbled something barely comprehensible, but Ash smiled again and hugged her closer to him.

"Yep...girl's so happy, she's speechless."

The stunned guards stepped back and cleared the way for them, allowing the "newlyweds" into the castle's huge stone vestibule. The grey-haired guard winked at him and smiled crookedly, revealing a cache of sharp, uneven teeth that almost looked like tarnished gold.

"Rip 'er out the frame, boy." he whispered thickly, handing Ash a small pouch filled with what felt like wet sand. Ash didn't neccesarily know what that meant, but it only took him a few seconds to fully catch its meaning. The small pouch was actually a sheep's bladder, and if his knowledge of pre- and post-medieval history served him right, the severed appendage could somehow be used as a condom. By that time, Nitaliyah was standing near one of the tall stone pillars, spewing her guts out.

"I can't BELIEVE you!" she groaned in disdain, holding her stomach with one hand and the other splayed against the wall for support."Was that...was that your...tongue in my mouth?"

Ash smiled as he realized what he'd done. He fondled a woman while she was technically unconscious, and for the first time in his life, it actually got him somewhere!

"Yep." he shrugged proudly, smiling. "It's called a French kiss. Pretty good, wasn't it?"

The half-dazed woman stood upright, her breaths heavy and labored. He saw that her green eyes had turned dark red with rage, and it was almost to the point that he saw steam shooting through her nostrils. Ash knew she was mad as hell at him for what he'd done, but he couldn't help but think she looked so sexy. Nitaliyah let out some kind of unintelligible Transylvanian war cry and rushed across the room, her hands fiercely gripping his throat.

"TO HELL WITH THE FRENCH!" she snarled through clenched teeth.

"Give me ONE reason why I shouldn't bite your balls off you right where you stand!"

He shrugged uncomfortably and smiled, despite the threat of losing his family jewels and the constant temptation of staring down the front of Nitaliyah's shirt.

"As romantic as that sounds right about now, I plan on having children someday, dollface." he choked out, surprised by the fact that such a soft woman had such a masculine grip. He staggered to the side of the wall to catch his breath, his face still twisted in that same sick grin. In all honesty, he fondled her in order to satisfy his own demented pleasures, since there was absoloutely no chance of her ever letting him do it while she was fully conscious. He began to think about what he could do to her while she slept...assuming if she _ever_ slept, since she was, after all, a Van Helsing. For all he knew, her bed was probably shaped like a coffin, and she most likely preferred doing it vampire-style...whatever the hell _that _was.

"I had to make it look believeable, lady." he answered after a few minutes, once again allowing all sorts of dirty images to process into his mind.

Nitaliyah could see the mock innocence lingering in his eyes. He was a disgusting man, but as much as she hated to admit it, he had a point. He was too smug for his own good, and in her world, that was the quickest way to get killed. She scoffed and retreated down the hallway, not even bothering to look back at him. Ash could see redness shining through her light brown skin, and another slow smile passed across his face. He was wearing down her tough-girl facade already.


	6. Not Crazy, Just Plain Bitchy

"_He's a no-good dog_..." she muttered to herself angrily.

"_Nothing but a disgusting, filthy pig. You should have blown his head off when you had the chance. Why didn't you just--"_

Nitaliyah stopped herself as she was in mid-sentence. She couldn't kill Ashley....she needed him, not emotionally or physically of course, but obligation-wise. She knew that he was the only man besides her father who could locate the Necronomicon and stop Dracula's army from destroying the world. It was a big feat, but even bigger for her. She had to get used to the fact that she had to let someone else be in charge, especially a man. They would display their so-called male dominance, and boast and brag about how great it is to have the ability to produce sperm and urinate while standing in an upright position. As far as she was concerned, she needed no man, and the last thing she wanted to be was someone's damsel in distress. The idea alone disgusted her, so much that it tugged at the inside of her stomach.

She winced as she began to polish her arrowheads, so hard that the metal began to gloss with a bluish tint. It was the only way she could think to herself, without some sly commentary from that futuristic scoundrel she was stuck with. The candlelight provided a soft glow into her bedroom, just to the point that she found it comfortable to read or clean her weapons. As hard as she polished, she couldn't rid her mind of that one time...the only time in her life that she had been frozen; almost helpless. Her face was still burning from earlier that day, when he...when he....

Nitaliyah pounded her clenched fists on the surface of her table for no apparent reason and stood up straight, gazing out the window and taking a long sip of the transparent, blood-red wine. The alcohol helped to calm her a bit, and helped soothe her nerves. She'd had a full glass every night since the invasion, and found that it offered some comfort in her stressful, often paranoid life.

She sighed and stared off into the horizon, feeling another murderous scowl pass across her face. The grounds beyond the castle were completely made up of forest, and there were tall, black oak trees stretching as far as the naked eye could see. She remembered playing in the circular courtyard as a little girl, and her father sternly warning her not to go playing in the forest. She never knew why, but the answer suddenly came to her. Nitaliyah gritted her teeth and shook her head, trying hard not to think of what her father was going through right now, or if he was still alive or not. All of a sudden, horrifying memories popped back into her mind, going on in an amazingly rapid succession.

"_You will tell us the location of the Book, peasant!"_

"_Liyah, go into the cellar and lock the doors!"_

"_But Papa I don't ---"_

"_Go, Nitaliyah. NOW!"_

The horrifyingly real sound of gunfire popped in her mind like wild fireworks, and a confused daze of angry voices fused inside her head, combining into a horrific chorus that no mortal ears were meant to hear. In a split second, she was just a little girl, watching in horror through a sliver of the wine cellar ceiling, tightly hugging Emmie to her chest and repeatedly muttering the Lord's Prayer. She heard her mother's screams, and her father's loud roars of reluctance as the metallic clanging of swords drowned out the soldiers' rough, callused voices. They were cursing at her father, laughing light-heartedly as they beat her mother to a bloody pulp. It was too real for her, almost too real to take...

She swallowed the rest of the wine in one swift gulp then threw the crystal chalice out of the window, her nerves frayed beyond repair. Nitaliyah watched through stinging, tear-filled eyes as the glass toppled four stories to the ground, shattering into glittering pieces on the courtyard cobblestones below. The sound of her bedroom door creaking open heightened her strained senses, and an unnaturally innate sense of virtual paranoia settled in. For a few seconds, all she could see was red, and she held the crossbow defensively in her hands. Her index finger unconciously danced near the trigger, as if coaxing its mark. Within time, she was rocketed back to reality, only to see that she was pointing at Ashley, who was standing in the doorway, his hands held up in defense.

"You should put that thing away before you hurt yourself."

Nitaliyah scowled at first, but she felt something warm loosen inside her chest, and some sort of fuzzy feeling blanketed over her skin. She hated it, and began to scowl slightly harder. She knew his kind quite well, and she was aware of the fact that they could sense emotions...and perhaps weakness.

"I've been shooting this 'thing' since I was six years old." she snapped back, placing her weapon back on the table. "I think I'd know my way around a target by now."

A part of her cringed as she saw a smile pass across his devilishly handsome face, a smile she thought looked slightly homicidal. He let his eyes scan around the room quickly, taking in the sight of the weapons decorating the walls of her bedroom. Twin spike-studded maces hung above her bed inside a transparent case, the weapons crossed exactly at their hilts. Broadswords and arrows were placed neatly along the wall, and neatly polished pick axes and knives were placed in a showcase--style bureau on the opposite side of the room. It was obvious to see that Nitaliyah was only surrounding herself with deadly weapons to make herself feel secure, but nothing about her personality actually suggested that she was.

The bedroom walls were painted jet-black, giving the room a faintly creepy glow. A small window on the opposite side of the room let in a small half-circle of light, and that was pretty much it. With her being a woman, Ash initially expected to see something pink, fluffy, or with frilled edges, but not with Nitaliyah. Her bedroom was neat and clean, not even a fiber out of place. The place looked uniform, almost like a military internment camp. It began to depress him a bit, and he thought it was sad when he noticed that the only touch of femenine quality came from a dark-haired, green-eyed porcelain doll sitting on the edge of her dresser. He also noticed that the window had been broken, and small shards of glass were scattered across the floor.

"Geez, lady." he mumbled under his breath, stepping into the dark room. "You need a life."

"I have a life, Mister Williams." she snapped back, continuing to polish her weapons while staring up at him from the higher rims of her eyes. "I'd rather not spend it serial philandering and pleasuring myself in public restrooms."

Nitaliyah scoffed and stood up, once again laying her crossbow across the table. Her hands were placed on her hips, and the scowl he knew well was once again plastered onto her face, giving her a moderately sexy, if not completely lethal disposition.

"What do you want from me?" she asked plainly, her tone inquisitive yet threatening. Ash smirked again and studied her slender frame, letting his eyes examine her body from head to toe. Her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and from where he was standing, he had a full view of the crescent-shaped scar on her cheek. To put it bluntly, she was dressed in next to nothing, wearing only a thin nightgown that barely covered her knees. Even though it was slightly baggy, he saw that it hugged her slender curves in all the right places. She was a half-naked woman standing in a room with an oversexed psychotic maniac who happened to exhibit fits of extremely violent tendencies. It was pretty clear what he wanted.

"What I want is an answer, lady." he said cordially, trying hard not to mentally debate whether she was wearing panties or not. "Why the hell did you choose me out of all the other unlucky sons of bitches in the world?"

He watched as he turned her back to him, giving him a full view of her perfectly rounded backside. He cracked an inward smile as he saw no crease in her nightgown, which usually meant one thing....

"I didn't choose you, fate did." Nitaliyah said after a few seconds.

"Years ago, before I was born, my mother predicted that Dracula's forces were to kidnap my father and prod him for information concerning the Necronomicon, and the image of a strange man appeared."

Once again, he smiled.

"And I'm guessing that tall, handsome, one-armed image was me."

Nitaliyah offered him a low, dry laugh and cut him a sharp glance, still staring out the window.

"Get over yourself. I said 'strange', not 'good-looking'." she answered coldly. "Mother told me as a child that if I were to find you one day, it would be my duty to persuade you to help me with the quest of defeating Lord Dracula."

She quickly turned around to face him, staring directly into his eyes. He liked the concept of persuasion, especially when she put it in that context. Her hips began to sway as she walked, and her lips were curled upwards into a seductive smirk. Her eyes flared with a deep passion, and she seemed like she was determined. She was determined to take him, and he was glad to let her. Nitaliyah flattened her body against his and forced his hands to her hips, that same alluring expression engraved into her pretty face. Good Lord... he could even feel her nipples hardening.

"You know what I want, don't you, Mister Williams?"she whispered to him in that sexy Transylvanian accent. He'd wanted this woman for a long time, and all his sick fantasies about her were coming true...finally. He couldn't believe that the same woman who threatened to orally castrate him less than three hours ago was now using her femenine charm to seduce him. Ash nodded, and bent his head so that his lips brushed against hers. He was going to have her now...any way he liked.

Before another word was uttered, a splitting pain shot through Ash's midsection, causing him to fall to the floor on his knees, his hands instinctively clutching his bruised groin while all sorts of vulgar curses spewed from his mouth. His eyes went wide, and the world was cast into a blur behind a wall of stinging salty tears. Ash felt his chest heave outwards as if it was on fire, and his stomach was painfully contorted into knots. He looked up through tear-filled eyes to see that his half-naked temptress had vanished. A swift, brutal hand grabbed the hair on top of his head and jerked his head back powerfully, so hard he felt a few bones in his neck snap. Nitaliyah was standing behind him, smiling in a certain way as if to say 'I told you so'.

"You...CRAZY...BITCH!" he managed to sputter, his aching chest stirring violently with each painful word. She laughed heartily, a sick smile corrupting her beautiful features. His skin crawled as he felt something sharp and cold press into the skin of his neck.

"That wouldn't be such a wise thing to say to the woman holding a knife to your throat." she whispered thickly in his ear. "As you can see, Mister Williams, I'm not very good with persuading people, especially men, so I'll make you a friendly proposition instead. You can either join me, fight alongside me, and live; or I could slit your throat right now and toss you to the wolves."

It didn't take long for him to note that she had gone slightly insane, and the fall from the vortex may have caused Nitaliyah to hit her head a bit too hard.

"Whatever you say, lady." he grunted through clenched teeth, struggling against the pain of the dagger embedded into his skin almost hard enough to draw blood.

"Just...let...me...GO!"

Nitaliyah laughed heartily and began to playfully skirt the blade against his skin, as if toying with his dwindling patience. She was pushing his buttons; fucking with his head, trying to get to him. That bitch. That crazy...depraved...sexy...bitch!

"I can't believe you fell for the 'I'm-gonna-have-sex-with-you-if-you-help-me-save-the-world' routine." she said with a sly smile, a particular sly smile that he thought brought out the masochistic side of her. She released his hair and he fell forward onto the floor, his entire lower body wracked with pain and his anger reaching its peak.

Ash tried in vain to rise from the floor, but his stomach flipped painfully, causing him to spew a small puddle of transparent vomit. He had no idea what this was. If it was a joke of some kind, he saw absoloutely nothing to be funny. His testicles throbbed in agony, and now was one of the rare times in his life that he doubted that he would ever be able to piss normally again. He watched her turn her back and walked towards the large wardrobe on the far side of the room. This had gone on for far too long.

Ash let out a silent, painful grunt and quickly pushed himself up from the floor, his eyes burning in an uncomfortable mixture of anger and humiliation. Never before had a woman kneed him in the cherries then afterwards lived to tell about it, let alone laugh in his face. Never. Ashley J. Williams was no one's bitch.

An unexpected shriek erupted from Nitaliyah's throat as Ash turned her around and forced her back into the stone wall, so hard that the back of her head began to hurt.

"I want you to listen to me and you listen good, lady." he said as levelly as he could, though a bit terrifying. "I have tried being patient, and I have tried playing Mr. Nice Guy with you, but this domestic violence bullshit is gettin' a little old. Mind you, I have never raised my good hand against a woman, but if you keep this up, I just might have to make an exception."

He moved closer to her, so close that Nitaliyah was completely sandwiched between his body and the stone wall behind her. She felt the searing warmth of his body and his heart raced wildly against hers. The blood from every vein in her body rushed to her head, and after a few minutes, Nitaliyah felt nervous, but sort of...euphoric. For effect, she tried to turn away from him, but Ash grabbed her chin and sharply jerked her head to the side so that she was forced to look at him.

"Now if you ever..._ever_...try to pull something like this again I will seriously hurt you, and not in a good way. I won't hesitate to torture, disembowel, maim, and/or murder you very slowly and painfully, so bad that even the good Lord Himself couldn't save you. Now, are we clear?"

He smiled inwardly as he heard her breathing become heavier and more nervous. Her eyes narrowed on his, and he saw a bead of sweat trickle down the side of her face. She had the look of a cat stranded in a closed elevator. She was afraid of him, and the way her eyes roved over his body untrustingly was some evidence of that. His voice was calm and gentle, yet eerily suggestive at the same time. There was no doubt in her mind that he would do such terrible things like that, since he was once officially declared mentally unstable. The trapped woman nodded, never taking her eyes off the threatening figure standing before her.

"Crystal." she answered emotionlessly, trying so hard to mask her fear. Ash separated from her and smiled, bowing slightly.

"Very good." he grinned, mocking her thick Romanian accent.

"And I bid you a good night, Miss Van Helsing."

He turned and exited her bedroom, quite pleased with himself. Nitaliyah shivered once and slammed the door behind him, making sure to lock it. She flattened her back against the door and folded her arms across her chest, at the same time plotting an impending attack. The conceited bastard...he had some nerve. How dare he waltz into her room and put his hands on her like that? How dare he say such things to her? How dare that insipid worm humiliate her like that, but at the same time make her feel so...alive?

She scowled slightly harder in an attempt to quell the goosebumps blanketing across her skin. That same warm, fuzzy feeling she always hated once again developed inside her, but now there was nothing she could do to stop it. She couldn't stand that man, but now she knew she needed him in more ways than one.


	7. A Man, A Plan, And A Dead Stripper

He let out a discontented sigh and made his way down the spiral staircase, now feeling a bit nauseous from the vertigo. He looked around the corridor for what felt like the fiftieth time, trying to make some sense out of his surroundings. From what he'd been told the day before, the family fortress had nine floors, eighty-five bedrooms, seventeen gaming parlors, three HUGE libraries, six kitchens, five dining rooms, a grand total of fifty-nine bathrooms, and four underground wine cellars, but only one shower. Europeans...so impractical, so smelly.

He gritted his teeth and sighed impatiently, at the same time wondering what in the netherworlds would possess old man Van Helsing to build a house so big for only three people. Acting on instinct, Ash pushed open a door and glanced around, not at all surprised by what he saw. From what he knew, it seemed to look like another dining room, about the size of a large high school cafeteria. A long table was stretched out before him, with exactly thirteen chairs neatly placed on each side, each one having its own place at the table. Huge rectangular windows lined one side of the room and the heavy maroon curtains were drawn back, emitting an unpleasantly foggy morning glow into the room and slightly reflecting off the shiny surface of the table. On the far side of the room he saw Nitaliyah bent over the side of the table. From what he noticed, her eyes were focused on something like a flat piece of paper. Ash charged into the room, still looking around while at the same time noticing that this one particular room was bigger than his entire apartment. He could tell that she noticed his presence from the vicious way she cut her eyes at him.

"Good morning, Mister Williams." she said crossly, not even bothering to look up at him. He smothered a laugh under his breath and sat down across from her, trying his best to translate the foreign markings and characters printed on the paper.

"Looks good." he said to himself, directing his eyes back to her. "So....what's for breakfast, baby?"

Nitaliyah wordlessly pulled a large platter from beside her and tossed it in front of him, her coarse manner apparent.

"You're eating fruit." she answered curtly, still staring at the parchment. "It's nutritious, filling, and keeps your energy up."

She paused and glared at him over the upper rims of her eyes.

"And I am _not_ your baby."

Ash grinned faintly and rolled his eyes, still staring over at the unloving dame standing before him. He was instantly reminded of their first encounter, and how her demeanor hadn't changed much since then. It didn't take long for her uptight, cold manner to get under his skin. He shrugged thoughtlessly, plucking a grape from its vine then popping it into his mouth. Sure, she was saying that _now_, but sooner or later, she'd be in bed with him. Though the chances of that actually happening were fairly astronomical, even the most frigid and undersexed of women couldn't resist his devilish good looks and somewhat patented Williams' charm. He smiled and pointed to the large, drawn-out paper, which was wrinkled and browned with age.

"What's this thing?" he asked. Nitaliyah sighed deeply once again, and smoothed another wavy strand of black hair out of her face.

"It's a map of Dracula's castle."

Ash raised his eyebrow.

"A map? How'd you get it?"

"I didn't get it from anywhere." she said, tracing her index finger on a frilled edge of the map. "Mother made it during one of her...lulls."

Nitaliyah let out another exhausted sigh as she sensed the confusion on his face, a dumb, clueless expression that could only demand an explanation. He looked like a sheep just seconds from its violent slaughter. She smiled inwardly and couldn't help but think that he looked so cute. A part of her was actually tempted to take his face in her hands and kiss him, but the more logical part of her refused to do it. She was letting her foolish emotions get the best of her. She cleared her throat before replying in a vain attempt to conceal the redness rising in her cheeks.

"My mother could go anywhere during her lulls, and once she traveled into Dracula's castle. As she was mentally inside the fortress, her physical body was in a hypnotic trance, writing down and drawing everything she saw. That's how she met my father."

A strangely unclear feeling loosened in his chest as he saw Nitaliyah's lips curl into a slight grin, and it was nice to see her smile for once. It made her look like more of a pretty teenage girl and less of a possible lesbian head-hunter. He smirked at yet another dirty thought.

"She saw him in a vision?" he asked, trying to get a grasp on the concept of her mother's unique gift. She shook her head and sighed, and her face turned bright red in embarrassment.

"Oh, heavens, no." Nitaliyah answered. "My mum was a burlesque dancer in Paris, and Papa was one of her best-paying spectators."

"You mean....your dad fell in love with a stripper?"

Ash tried to conceal a small smirk as he thought of the irony of the situation. Van Helsing was supposed to be the religious type; champion of all things moral and righteous. It was sort of difficult to picture him somewhere in a Parisian nudie bar, his tongue hanging out of his mouth while he lecherously stuffed euros down some exotic dancer's G-string. Nitaliyah nodded, then pointed to a silver picture frame hanging on the wall above the fireplace on the far end of the room.

"That's her." she said, a bit of her drooping in sadness.

The portrait was of a slender brown-skinned young woman posed in a semi-provocative position. The model was half naked, stretched out on her side on some type of sofa, a sheet draped over the lower half of her body to give more of a Toulouse Lautrec impression. The nameless woman was the spitting image of Nitaliyah. Her long black hair was swept over to one side and secured with a white lotus flower behind her right ear and long, loose curls hanging over her shoulders. Her seductive hazel eyes were half closed but passionate and expressive, as if begging for something she would never have. Although artistically tasteful and slightly arousing, Ash could look at the portrait and see two good, smooth, perfectly round reasons why old man Van Helsing fell for the beautiful, mysterious Sophia Vivienne Le Reaux.

"...Now if you're done gawking at my mother's breasts, I'd like to finish reviewing the strategy, Mister Williams."

Ash turned around to see Nitaliyah standing upright, her hands placed on her hips. Her lady-like smile had faded back into the hostile scowl he was used to seeing, but she had a certain look of disgust on her face. It was then when Ash looked down and realized that he had been drooling on himself for the past six and a half minutes.

"Oh...er...right." he said almost immediately, wiping his mouth with his sleeve." Where were we?"

Nitaliyah scoffed and bent back over the table, pointing at certain areas of the map. From what he could see, it was of a dark circle high above the castle.

"This is _Die Blodsmunn_." she said carefully, a look of concern passing across her face.

"It only occurs--"

"Every ten years, which would explain why Dracula kidnapped your father, since certain spells in the Necronomicon can be activated during the Blood Moon. He needs your father's translation abilities to read the spells, which would cause Armageddon as we know it. So it's up to us to get your old graybeard outta there before the world is taken over by an evil vampire and his supernatural legion of flesh-eating Deadites."

A blank silence floated between them, and for a few minutes, Nitaliyah was speechless. Ash bit into an apple and shrugged casually.

"What? You don't think I just stare at nice tits and kill stuff all day, do you?"

She shrugged nonchalantly and resumed staring at the map, her finger tracing along the sides and center.

"According to my calculations and by studying the Gregorian calendar, astronomic readings, and accurate past lunar phases, the next Blood Moon should occur--"

"Tomorrow night." Ash said finally, sending bits of spittle and apple flesh spewing forth. He smiled inwardly as he saw Nitaliyah's irritated expression out the corner of his eye, and he could see that it was beginning to piss her off. By now he could tell that Nitaliyah was used to being in charge of things. That meant she found more satisfaction in being on top, so to speak.

"Right." she said finally, standing upright then glancing out the window behind her.

"It's high noon. That means we have approximately a day and a half to make it to Dracula's fortress."


	8. On The Road Again

She had been warned not to go through these very woods as a child, but a burning curiosity still smoldered inside her, wondering why Father had forbidden her from playing among these seemingly harmless trees. Nitaliyah sighed and scanned her eyes around the forest, taking in her surroundings.

The forest was mainly made up of tall black trees, whose thick trunks and towering branches posed an intimidating threat to natives and travelers alike. The trees bore no fruit, and haven't done so for the past four hundred years. Looking up, she could see that the lush canopies had nearly blocked the night sky, so much that the only thing visible were vague shadows and their icy breaths. The rough dirt path they traveled on looked fresh and untraveled, as if it hadn't been taken in years. The fact was disturbing, and the numerous village rumors she heard over the years began to cycle through her mind, making her all the more anxious and alert. She took a deep breath and wrapped her cloak tighter around her body then leaned forward, gently stroking Hephaestian's sandy brown mane as if to sense his nervousness. His coat was drenched with cold sweat and the poor creature was shaking as if it had just seen a ghost. She of all people knew this was a bad sign.

"You sure you know where we're going?" a particular male voice said out of the mild darkness. She gritted her teeth and nodded, trying her best to be civil with the man.

"Of course I'm sure, you twit." she answered calmly, still staring out ahead of her. "Mother's sight was never wrong."

Ash cracked a sly smile through the darkness, now realizing what the hell his purpose was. He had to follow the instruction of some long dead French stripper (who sometimes moonlighted as a psychic) in order to free her husband from a power mad vampire king. For some reason, he found himself laughing, and he didn't know if it was cruel irony or the handful of mind-numbing painkillers he'd found in one of the wine cellars earlier in the day. He was just slightly loopy, but it was to the point that he began to see things...or at least that was what he thought. Ash's head jerked up instinctively as the sound of a snapping twig ripped through the still forest. His eyes zoomed between the gaps in the trees, hoping to find something to shoot at. A pair of evil, bright red eyes glowed through the darkness, but before he could draw his shotgun, the eyes vanished into what looked like thin air. They were there...he saw them...he _knew_ something was there. Or was that the nineteenth-century medication talking?

The silence came back quickly, and it began to creep him out a bit. He was nervous, on edge, and trigger happy. To be honest, he'd been like that ever since they left the castle nearly nine hours ago. The situation began to remind him of the fateful night in the cabin in Tennessee, when he'd first gotten himself into this mess. Before then, he'd never even heard the words 'Necronomicon Ex Mortus'. Back in those days he was just some dumb college kid obsessed with loose women, cars, and the occasional weekend-long drinking binge.

He heard her expel a small yawn, and after a while, he did the same. Ash unconsciously rubbed his face with his metal gauntlet hand, and then cringed as he felt the harsh metal scraping against his skin. He leaned forward and began to drift off, at the same time fighting to keep his eyes open and gripping Dionysius's reins with a firm hold. Ash felt his skin crawl as a soft but freezing hand touched one side of his face and a cruel thumb and index finger painfully tug his ear to the point it burned.

"Wake up, whore." she said rather demandingly, pulling his ear so hard that it began to burn. He gritted his teeth and slid off the horse, anger still burning inside him. He warned her, but it was obvious that she didn't take him seriously. Now he wanted to hurt her...badly. He wanted to see her in pain for once, make her cry, make her bleed. Now was one of the many times when he's channeled his violent urges into disturbing images of seeing his female comrade naked and tied to a bed in a spread-eagle position, begging him to put her out of her misery. It seemed to work, and after a few seconds he was a much happier man. Nitaliyah took her bag over her shoulder and began to walk toward a small cottage; one that he thought was far too small to be Dracula's place.

It was a small place with a bit of European charm, most of it coming from the brick chimney stemming from the thatched hay roof. Thick vines loosely wrapped around the house, and he could see that the windows were boarded from the inside. Smart move, considering that it was located in the middle of a Transylvanian forest. The place looked as if it hadn't been inhabited in years, and that thought alone made him nervous.

He followed her up the sunken pebble path and watched in both nervousness and calm anticipation as she tried to pick the lock with what looked like a miniature nail file. After a few minutes of attempts, Ash pushed her aside and powerfully kicked the door in. For a second, she stared at him blankly, and he shrugged. Nitaliyah sighed wordlessly and withdrew her crossbow, carefully stepping foot into the abandoned house.

From the way things looked, they didn't have very far to go, since the place was so small. He watched as she went from room to room, sweeping every corner of the place, as if searching for anyone or anything. To their chagrin the place was empty, and they both felt a small part of themselves relax.

Nitaliyah set her things on the floor and knelt down to the fireplace, then lit the hearth with s bundle of wet leaves she'd gathered in the forest. She turned back and sat on the floor cross-legged, rummaging through her pack. Ash took a seat across from her, lying on his back while using his bag as a pillow. He wasn't at all impressed by the display, since he somehow knew that her maternal grandmother practiced voodoo. She carelessly threw him a small, greasy parcel.

"Eat and sleep well tonight." she said briefly, then hungrily biting into what looked like a sandwich.

"You're no use to me exhausted and underfed."

He smothered a small laugh under his breath.

"That shouldn't stop us from havin' a little fun. I mean, if you want, I could just lie here on my back and let you do all the work, darlin'."

She stopped between bites and stared at him hard, her ever-serious scowl as intense as ever. He noticed that Nitaliyah wasn't as virginal as he thought, and he could tell that she understood the double meaning of what he just said. She cracked another rare smile and continued to search through her pack.

"Please tell me that was a joke." she said impassively, looking over at him. He smiled at her and was relieved that she had a sense of humor, however dark and odd it was.

"Depends on how you wanna take it, sweetheart." he answered, instinctively sniffing the mysterious package he'd been given. Ash unwrapped the makeshift meal and took a bite out of it, letting the savory taste dissolve in his mouth. The roast beef was pretty good...a bit salty, but good. He ate the entire thing in less than four bites, and Nitaliyah didn't know whether to be flattered or disgusted by his voracious appetite.

"What is this stuff?" he asked, licking his fingers.

Nitaliyah swallowed a cool draft of water from her canteen before answering, then took another bite from her already half-eaten sandwich.

"It's pickled, salted, and roasted raccoon skin." she answered plainly, staring at him as if he'd grown an extra head. "It was Mother's special recipe. The flavor of the rabies gives it that extra kick."

Within seconds, Ash stopped chewing, and let what she had just said sink into his mind. A certain look of disgust passed across his face and he spit the partially digested sandwich across the room and into the wall, letting it slowly trickle to the floor in a colorless pile of bland mash. He scraped his fingers across his tongue in disgust, and drank nearly half the water in his flask to wash the nauseating taste out of his mouth.

"You...you eat rabid raccoon meat?" he asked in blatant repugnance, his face contorted into a disgusted but slightly attractive expression. She nodded and smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sure, why not?" she replied simply, obviously seeing no problem in her strange, if not completely unsanitary eating habits. "We Transylvanians are forced to make do with what we have, which is basically a large percentage of poisonous fish, small birds, mad rodents, and onions. Besides, you haven't seen any actual cows around here since we've arrived, have you?"

She slid another rectangular parcel across the floor.

"Care for another?"

Nitaliyah watched him eye the sandwich suspiciously, untrustingly, as if she'd drugged it. His mistrust lasted for a few seconds, when the harsh growling of his stomach intervened with his better judgment. He snatched it from her and tore open the packaging, and within seconds, he was already half-done with it. The man ate like an animal, and that realization sent a series of uncomfortable chills up her spine. Nitaliyah yawned once and stretched out on her stomach, laying her head on her pack.

"How'd you get the diseased taste out?" she heard him ask, his speech muffled on account of his mouth full of food. Nitaliyah laughed at him and shrugged, turning her head to the side so that she faced the fire.

"It's a family mystery." she answered after a few seconds. "Mother had me swear to secrecy."

She sat in silence and watched him for a few seconds, letting all sorts of random thoughts flit through her mind. She felt horrible for hurting him the night before, but an arrogant, bitchy part of her refused to apologize for it. She pulled a clear glass bottle from her pack and unstopped the cork, taking a generous swig of the strong, pale green liquid. An invisible fire slithered down her throat and raged at her insides, but she refused to let Ashley see her discomfort. He stared over at her with discerning eyes and yawned, then wiped his nose with the back of his arm, just to irritate her on purpose. It worked, and a small grin tugged at his lips as he saw her roll her eyes.

"Why'd you wait ten years to rescue your own father?" he asked simply, picking the remnants of dinner from his teeth. Nitaliyah looked over at him and sighed.

"Because if I tried to break into Vlad's castle anytime before now, he would have killed me, and then there would be no one left to save Papa if I died. At least now he'll be too preoccupied with the ritual to notice a couple strangers slipping in and out."

Ash nodded in agreement and watched as she slid the half-empty bottle across the floor to him.

"This might help with the rabies."

Without hesitation, Ash lifted the bottle to his lips and drank, letting the potent acidic taste of the liquor slither down his throat. He immediately began to choke, at the same time blinking back the fiery taste.

"What the hell is this?" he asked, his face puckered slightly. She smiled bashfully and laughed, her eyes focused on the floor.

"It's some old absinthe I found in the northern cellar." she replied. "It belonged to my father. According to the label, it can be used to disinfect minor injuries, treat mild syphilis, kill insects, poison vermin, or to just get piss-drunk."

He stared over at her in astonishment, part of his mind reviewing common misconceptions and stereotypes he'd heard from movies and comic books.

"You drink alcohol and you kill people...er...undead people. I thought you were supposed to be the religious type."

She shrugged and offered him a sly smile, her eyes attractively fluttering with light.

"Honestly, Mister Williams. Just because my father worked for the Vatican and the Holy Order, you don't expect me to be the perfect little Catholic schoolgirl, do you?"

He smirked mentally at the thought of her dressed in a plaid skirt and a rather revealing cotton T-shirt, beating the snot out of a nun while wrestling in an inflatable kiddy pool filled with vanilla ice cream.

"I guess not." he answered as he took a smaller, less lethal sip of absinthe.

Nitaliyah smiled to herself again as she heard him belch rather loudly, letting her know that he was satisfied for now. It was nice to have another person around for a change, and she was growing tired of roaming around the castle, talking to Emmie the porcelain doll. In a way, he helped her regain what was left of her sanity. Ashley was beginning to grow on her like a boil on her thigh that could kill her if she dared to lance it.

"So what ever happened to your folks?" he asked, looking over at her expectantly. For the moment, she was confused.

"My...folks?"

"Yeah. Your folks. You know, your family."

Nitaliyah let out a small sigh and forced her head back into her pillow, gritting her teeth tightly so she wouldn't cry. Her stomach twisted in an uncomfortable knot, and within a matter of seconds the past flitted in and out of her mind, bringing along with it painful and gruesome images. It had been so long since it happened, but it felt like yesterday.

"Dracula always hated my family and what the Van Helsing name stood for. Apparently, my father, my mother, and I were the last of our clan; the rest being slaughtered, exiled, or taken prisoner in war. He wanted to get rid of our family for good, so one night, he and his army seized our home."

He heard the emotionlessness in her voice, and the way she was so casual about it began to frighten him. Her eyes were low but glazed over, cloudy with what looked like guilt. Her speech was slurred a bit, and he noticed that she began to stumble over her words. It only took seconds for him to realize that Nitaliyah was drunk.

"I was...I was eleven years old at the time, and I was reading in the eastern library when the troops arrived. I remembered hearing people shouting, and by the time I got to the grand foyer, the house was in shambles and....everything was either broken or on fire. Mother was huddled in a corner screaming, and my father was trying to fight the soldiers, but it was too much for him. He saw me and ordered me to take the Book and...and bury it in the cellar, and I did. I buried it underneath the floorboards, amidst all the terrible things surrounding me. Apparently, the soldiers assumed the baby my mother was carrying was the only child, so nobody bothered to search for me. That night, I watched in horror as those bastards hurt my mother and stabbed her to death while the others held Papa down, forcing him to watch. I don't think I'll ever forget the look in his eyes. He tried to break free and save her, God knows he did, but he couldn't. After Mother died, my father was so tormented with heartache he screamed himself unconscious and they took him away. That was ten years ago, and I haven't seen or heard from him since."

A deafening silence engulfed the entire room, and both of them could barely find anything to say. It was so quiet that the only thing that could remotely be heard was the low whistle of the harsh night's wind and the faint sound of tree branches scraping against the boards nailed to the windows. Never before had anyone ever told him something so horrible, and Ash began to understand why she was so moody most of the time. She witnessed the worst thing a little girl could ever see, and her intense hatred brought her all the way across the globe and nearly a hundred years into the future.

"Sorry to hear that." he said, breaking the silence with a mutter. She turned her head towards him, half her face buried in the makeshift pillow.

"I don't need your sympathy." she snapped harshly, once again turning to him. "So...tell me about about your...folks."

He folded his hands behind his head and yawned, trying to think of anything in or about his family that sounded even remotely interesting.

"Let's see...." he began, blankly staring off into space.

"My siblings are dead. I killed both my girlfriends in self-defense on two completely different occasions, my father and I haven't been on speaking terms since my little 'accident' a few years back, my mother is practically my only friend, and the people who at least call themselves my friends either think I'm a delusional homicidal maniac or a hormonally-imbalanced rapist who couldn't keep it in his pants to save his life."

Nitaliyah stared at him for the duration of his speech, half in amusement and half in slight fear. The information poured from his mouth like water from a broken fountain. It sounded as if his entire life's story was just one long run-on sentence. It was kind of sad, really. Almost to the point that she wanted to hug him. After about a minute, he turned to face her, the expression in his eyes blank but honest.

"Anything else you want to know, Miss Van Helsing?"

She nodded and sat up, the weight of her body propped up on her elbows. She seemed to be a bit confused, if not shocked or just plain scared, like a good percentage of the women he dared to approach romantically. The rest were either desperate, insane, made of cheap rubber materials, or he had to put paper bags over their heads and pay them in cash afterwards.

"I can picture you being a delusional homicidal maniac, but why a rapist? And...what can't you keep in your trousers?" she asked drunkenly, curiously staring at the inseam of Ash's pants. He turned toward her and sighed wearily, his mind unconsciously going back to a chapter in his life that he'd rather care not to mention...ever.

"Trust me, it's a long story."

She pulled a silver pocket watch out of the side of her pack and glanced at its face, then back at him.

"It's only a quarter after eight. We've got time."

Ash let out another exhausted breath and turned back on his side facing the wall. He didn't want to tell her why he had been sued for sexual harassment three years ago. He didn't want to tell Nitaliyah how sexy Gina Reyes looked, and how her thick Honduran accent turned him on. He didn't want to go into detail about how long and beautiful her legs were, and how he always thought about her in ways that no man should ever think about a woman. He didn't have to tell Nitaliyah how he became obsessed with Gina, and how he smelled her hair when he thought she wasn't looking. He certainly wanted to neglect that fateful night when he saw her working late, and how he swore up and down that Gina smiled and winked at him, like she wanted him to do something. He was sure Nitaliyah didn't want to hear how the earlier hours of that particular day were spent in the company of countless tequila shots and cheap pornos he was too lazy to return to the video store.

He didn't want to say how lonely and drunk he was, and how inviting Gina looked that night. Ash didn't want to tell Nitaliyah how loud Gina screamed when he grabbed her from behind and started whispering very disgusting, very graphic things into her ear. He didn't want to go off into detail about his possible prison sentence for aggravated assault, and how his court-appointed attorney had gotten him off by probable reason of insanity. Ash knew she didn't want to know all that, so he thought it would be best if he didn't say anything at all.

"I'd rather not, Miss Van Helsing." he muttered cynically, still thinking about the reason why he had been banned from working in every Wal*Mart in the eastern half of the United States. He focused his eyes square on the ceiling, watching the many grub worms make their way though the soil packed in the corners of the roof. Nitaliyah sighed and stretched, her long legs extending far beneath her.

"Fine then." she mumbled drunkenly.

Ash watched as Nitaliyah sat upright and pulled her shirt over her head, at the same time wondering if bras had been invented already at this point in history, not that she needed one. He stared over at her in wonder, if not a completely perverted fascination. By now it was safe to say that Nitaliyah had taken her mother's good, firm-looking genes.

"Uh...what the hell are you doing?" he asked rhetorically.

"I'm trying to rest." she tossed over her shoulder sourly, once again facing the fire. "What's the matter? You've never slept before?"

"Yeah, but you ---"

"Good night, Mister Williams." she said finally, more stern than ever at this point.

Ash let out a disgruntled sigh and pushed the back of his head back into the makeshift pillow, counting the number of green garden snakes entangled in one corner of the roof. The constant temptation to touch her nagged at him and ate at the inside of his brain. She was just like Gina Reyes, teasing him with her body. But instead of a court case and restraining order, the sharpened brass dagger clutched in her right hand along with a deadly accuracy would decide the outcome of his decision. He knew which part of him she would most likely amputate first...and he didn't find it the least bit flattering. He unconsciously crossed his legs and took another long swig of the absinthe, letting the sickeningly sweet liquor burn the inside of his throat. It felt good for a minute, and after a few seconds he began to grow quite sleepy. Ash yawned one final time before drifting off to sleep himself, his exhausted mind still focused on the dirt crumbling in the ceiling.


	9. Satan Incarnate

A pair of small but noisy feet scurried up the stone staircase and down the long, wide corridor. Igor bit his hairy lower lip in anticipation as he rushed further down the hallway, at the same time not trying to fall flat on his face on account of the huge pair of tattered shoes he'd stolen from the cemetery the day before. He finally came to a gilded door at the end of the corridor, his palms sweaty with what seemed to be nervousness. He knew not to bother His Lordship unless it was an emergency of some kind, and this was definitely an emergency.

The door seemed to open by itself, as if by some kind of dark magic or invisible force. He was greeted by a tall, dark shadow staring out the large window on the far side of the room, staring thoughtfully at the moonlight.

"Y-your highness." Igor stammered, mostly out of paralyzing fear than his terrible speech impediment.

"What is it, minion?" a cold, inhuman voice asked almost demandingly.

Igor stepped one foot into the room, and as soon as he had, the entire room burst into a dim array of candlelight, which made sense, due to his master's...sensitive skin condition.

"I h-have guh-good news." he stuttered again.

"Spit it out, then." the voice barked, still facing the window.

"The w-woman." he answered rather pathetically. "Vuh-vuh-Van Helsing's d-dah-daughter. She was traveling through the f-fuh-forest."

"Exactly where I want her." the shadow purred, a sadistic smile evident in its voice. "Is she alone?"

Igor shook his head sorrowfully. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.

"No, my Lord. Last I huh-heard, she was traveling w-with an accomplice."

The shadowy figure turned around quickly, revealing a man of ageless youth. His skin was literally the color of fresh milk, and his handsome face bore a gentle yet vicious disposition, to the point that one couldn't distinguish him from friend or foe. His eyes were strangely yellow as an owl's, but deep, offsetting his strong, prominent jaw line. His unusually pallid skin tone off set his jet-black hair, which was neatly slicked back from his forehead and flowed down to his shoulders. He was dressed in a black suit made of the finest cashmere, and his deep crimson shirt nearly matched his insatiable passion for control of those around him. The subtle gold medals placed on the man's chest bore a man of both great importance and incredible ruthlessness. There was no doubt in his mind that this shadowy figure, this agelessly civilized beast, was his master, Lord Vladimir Illyich Dracula.

"An accomplice, you say?" Dracula asked, stepping away from the window and towards a clearly frightened Igor. The hideous, diseased hunchback shook uncontrollably as Dracula landed a soft, ice-cold hand on his shoulder.

"Tell me, Igor." he crooned, his thin lips curling up into a particularly unpleasant grin.

"What does this accomplice....look like?"

He knew the sound of the beastly tone when he heard it. Igor began to sweat profusely, his perspiration giving off a horrid, rotten odor. He let out an exhausted sigh before beginning, now realizing that this may be the last time he would ever use his tongue.

"It w-wuh-was a m-man." he answered quickly. "The dark-haired one from the p-puh-prophesy."

Within seconds, his master's gaze dropped from friendly warmth into pure hatred, and his golden eyes darkened to the color of polished stone. Dracula stood upright, his hands clasped behind his back. Something was brewing in his mind....Igor could feel it. The tall, pale man rushed back to the window and resumed his place, and Igor saw his clearly irritated scowl through the reflection of the glass. The ugly hunchback cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Wuh-what shall I d-do now, Muh-muh-master?" he asked cautiously, as if he were to be shot down right where he stood. His blood ran cold as he saw his master's thin lips curl into a voracious smile, revealing a pair of sharp but neat white fangs.

"Find them, Igor." he said immediately. "Get rid of that accomplice and bring Van Helsing's daughter to me."


	10. Pawns, Pimp Slaps, and Sucker Punches

Nitaliyah sat up and gasped audibly, cold beads of sweat dotting her feverish skin. Her lungs were on fire, and her chest heaved outwards in a series of heavy, labored breaths. She'd had that nightmare again, and it didn't take long for her to realize that another pair of eyes was staring at her, watching her from nearly eight feet away. Ashley was sitting on the floor cross-legged with an open shotgun, loading shells into the open barrel. The fire was still raging in the hearth, and judging from the slightly aromatic scent in the air, she deduced that Ashley had found more firewood. He wordlessly glanced up at her. The incensed flames casted a bright reflection on his dirty face and illuminated his deep brown eyes, making him look sort of...handsome. Nitaliyah rolled her eyes and gripped the right side of her head, trying to overcome the effects of yet another hangover. It was _definitely_ the alcohol.

Her eyes went wide when the harsh sounds of horse hooves mingled with deep voices rang inside her ears.

"Did...did you hear that?" she asked breathlessly, her eyes wide in anxiety. He looked up from his work and glared at her again. A deep silence engulfed the room, and the only thing that could be heard was the frigid early morning air whipping at the outside of the house. His eyes zoomed around the room.

"Hear...what?"

"Those voices." she answered. "I thought I heard voices."

Ash looked over at her in pure confusion, then resumed loading shells into his shotgun.

"You're paranoid, lady. You've been tossing and turning all night and talking in your sleep." he said, pausing for a moment to throw Nitaliyah her blouse. "...And er...your headlights are flashing."

For a minute, she had no idea what he was referring to, until she felt a cold breeze pass across her bare torso. Now was one of those mornings that she forgot that she slept half-naked. Nitaliyah blushed and pulled her blouse over her shoulders, quickly fastening the buttons to hide her pair of erect embarrassments. She pulled her knees to her chest and stared over at him for a few seconds, her mind temporarily lost in a sea of curiosity.

"What...what exactly was I saying?" she asked, the words slipping out of her mouth like an unintended blasphemy. Ashley shrugged, reassembled his firearm, and cocked it.

"How the hell should I know? " he replied casually, stuffing the remaining shells into his back pocket.

"I don't speak Romanian."

She muttered a curse under her breath and was about to say a few choice words about him when a hard object crashed through one of the windows, shattering the boards. A flaming circular object landed on the floor between them, giving off a powerfully rank stench. It smelled of burning flesh and rotten meat. Nitaliyah poured her canteen water on the object in an attempt to extinguish it. Nitaliyah gripped the steaming object in the palm of her hand and put it to the light. The thing was charred beyond recognition, but she could see two deep holes, what looked like a jawbone, and crude rigid-edged teeth protruded from the upper jaw. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, and goose bumps quickly blanketed her skin.

"A human skull." she muttered absently, her eyes growing red with anger. "I guess we're not alone."

At that moment, a loud noise could be heard, and what sounded like angry voices followed suit. He had no idea what the calloused voices were saying, mainly because there were so many of them and none seemed to speak proper English. Ash instinctively grabbed Nitaliyah and dropped down, roughly pulling her to the floor with him.

"What the devil are you doing?" she asked him, shaking herself out of his grasp.

"The element of surprise." he answered mostly out of annoyance. "Now shut up and lay still."

Ash smiled to himself, at the same time realizing how long it had been since he'd said that to a woman. Reluctantly obeying his orders, Nitaliyah shut her mouth and laid flat on her stomach, but not before cursing her male comrade in four different languages.

The door flew open, knocking another cloud of choking pale dust into the room. Before a foot was set inside, the loud, obnoxious sound of his shotgun went off, knocking the poor creature through the outside door frame and back into the early morning air. The two of them rose from the floor and rushed outside, looking around as if expecting more. Ash bent down and poked the cold, bullet-ridden corpse and grimaced. The man, goat, or whatever it was, had hideously enlarged lips and jet-black eyes that practically bulged out of his head. Its disturbingly purple-bluish skin that was plagued with dark warts and pimples, some of which oozed with a thick, cheesy green pus. A pair of sharp, neatly filed horns stuck out on both sides of the thing's head, and shone as if they had been recently polished. Its blackened, crooked teeth protruded from his mouth, they too, slicked with dirt...or really bad plaque. Its shirt was stained with blood from where it had been shot, and in its clutched hand was the crude axe that was meant to be a weapon. He knelt down to see some sort of badge or crest decorating the right part of his chest above his heart. It was gold or something close to it and inscribed with a message, but the thing was mangled beyond recognition by the bullet holes.

"LET ME GO, YOU BRUTES!"

He quickly turned his head to see two other monstrosities man-handling Nitaliyah. One had her by the arms and the other had her by the ankles; both of them threatening to carry her away. She was screaming her head off and trying to fight them at the same time, but the woman was no match to her muscle-bound, possibly brain dead abductors. He reloaded and fired twice, hitting both gargantuan in their heads and leaving a bloody mash of raw hamburger meat lingering on their shoulders. For a few minutes, the bodies stood in place, their limbs still holding onto her hands and ankles. Ash pulled her from the grip of the corpses and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Get your hands OFF me!" she shrieked, pounding his back with her fists. "Just WHO do you THINK you ARE?! Put me down NOW!"

He picked her up and threw her onto the ground, so hard that he was sure he heard one of her bones snap. Ash smiled in the back of his mind as he saw her grip her elbow and grit her teeth in pain as he saw dark red blood gush through her fingers. She may not have been naked or tied up, but at least he got the satisfaction in knowing that he made her bleed.

"You know, you should try being a little more grateful when somebody saves your life." he said harshly, walking back to where their horses stood. She stood up and charged behind him angrily, the blood from her elbow trickling down her arm.

"Who do you think you are, putting your filthy hands on me like that, PIG?"

He stopped as he felt her hand grip his shoulder, and right now, her voice was beginning to annoy him quite a bit. His eye began to twitch uncontrollably, and his blood began to boil. He gritted his teeth hard enough to chip a tooth. He was straining to hold back so bad to the point that he almost felt a major blood vessel burst in his brain. His anger had reached its peak, and as he turned around all he could see was red. He felt his open palm swing against the cold air. A brief female scream broke the silence, and a loud thud could be heard colliding against the morning grass. As he came to, Ash looked down to see Nitaliyah kneeling on the ground before him, her hand covering the left side of her face. Her head was lowered, and she was shaking.

Nitaliyah was whimpering softly like a little girl, and although her hair covered part of her face, he could see her lower lip tremble violently as if she was about to burst into tears. That seemed to be sort of out of character for her. Her head rose to him, and her big, bright eyes focused on him. To his surprise, her gaze wasn't one of anger or vengeance; but pain, almost like an injured puppy. Tears welled in the woman's eyes, and in a matter of seconds, Nitaliyah broke down and started to cry…loudly. Then the horrifying realization had finally sunk in. He actually _hit_ her.

A more sadistic part of him wanted to laugh and kick her in the face or something, but the more gentlemanly, 'don't-raise-your-hand-against-a-woman-unless-the-bitch-is-trying-to-kill-you' part of him felt sorry for her. He pulled the sobbing woman off the ground and began to apologize.

"Come on now, Nitaliyah. I...I'm sorry." he tried to explain, trying hard not to sound like a hostile woman beater. "I didn't mean it. I just...lost my temper a little, but you shouldn't have--"

Before he could say another word, Nitaliyah's closed fist crashed into his face, forcing him to stumble backwards. Ash felt his jawbone dislocate for a second, his vision instantly went blurry, and for a second or two, he swore he heard birds chirping inside his head. A sharp stab of pain surged through his head, leaving a throbbing sensation viciously pulsating in his brain. He grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree for support and stood up shakily, at the same time trying to mentally process what had just happened. He put his hand to his nose and was surprised when he felt a small pool of warm blood trickle into the palm of his hand. Sweet Jesus. This broad punched harder than he did.

"Now we're even." she smiled sweetly, wiping the artificial tears from her eyes. She opened her pack and once again glanced at her pocket watch before heading towards their horses.

"Once you're done bitching, saddle up. We only have twenty-two hours of daylight left."


	11. Oh, Concubines, Oh, Concubines

Lord Dracula stood glancing out the window once again, as he had been for sometime now. It was daybreak now, and the main event was to happen tonight. Tonight would seal the fates of everyone involved, as well as every inhabitant of Earth. He hadn't received word from the troop leaders from the forest, nor had he been notified of the death of that pest Ashley Williams. The wait began to both irritate and worry him, but he knew that he couldn't let the prophesy be fulfilled. He couldn't let it happen; he just couldn't. He couldn't allow the prophecy to be fulfilled, and allow his line of royalty to be wiped off the face of the planet. It was his own personal ambition for centuries for his bloodline to continue and flourish on into the future, then rule the world. He wanted Williams dead, but he had other plans for Van Helsing's lovely little daughter....

The soft sound of his chamber door squeaking open was enough to cause him to turn his head, and as he did, he realized that no one was there. He turned back to see all three of his lovely wives standing before him, dressed in their finery as always. Aleera was a gorgeous red-haired creature with beautiful emerald green eyes that could pierce a man's soul before brutally drawing every single drop of blood from his body. Verona had waist-length black hair, haunting brown eyes, and the face of an angel, but the intentions of the Devil himself. Although he loved all of his wives, Marishka was definitely his favorite. With her flaxen blonde hair and passionate blue eyes, Marishka actually _did_ look like an angel, but like Aleera and Verona, she shared the same ruthless tendencies and had a passion to resort to murder in order to get what she wanted. He had hand-picked them himself when they were only teenagers, then gave them the blessing of eternal youth and beauty, as well as the curse of an insatiable thirst for blood.

"Vladimir, what are you staring at?" Verona said playfully, revealing her beautifully sharp-toothed smile.

"Yes, love." Aleera agreed. "What _are_ you staring at?"

Lord Dracula smiled handsomely and threw his arms over his women's shoulders and kissed them on their cheeks. He saw delight in making them all blush at the same time.

"I am merely planning, my dears." he replied confidently. "I am preparing for the day that we and our children shall freely roam the world, ruling prosperous kingdoms as far as the eye can see."

Aleera giggled once and smiled up at him, then put a golden tray on the table before him. On the tray was a raw human heart and a transparent wine glass filled with blood.

"Well, we made your breakfast darling." Verona said proudly. Aleera raised the glass to his lips and he drank, taking in the gloriously sweet flavor of the still warm blood. Marishka took the still-beating heart in her pale hand and placed it before him, she too smiling. He bit into the organ generously, taking in the savory flavor of blood combined with the delightfully fleshy taste. He smiled bloodily and licked his lips, lovingly staring at his three caring, attentive concubines.

"A twenty one-year-old female." he said lustfully, allowing his sick mind to drift elsewhere.

"You know what I like, my darlings."

"I'm sorry to disturb you, my Lord."

The four of them turned their heads to see a guard standing in the doorway, his discolored pale green skin drenched in sweat and nervousness. His ferocity had been reduced to that of a mere mortal's, and the way he was shaking was some proof to that.

"What do you want?" Dracula asked fiercely, his voice burning with annoyance. The guard stepped forward and swallowed hard, his eyes darting around the room.

"The troops in the forest are all dead." he reported sadly. "Should I order the army to ---"

Dracula raised his hand sharply, and the guard fell silent.

"Don't do anything. Leave them to me." he smiled, then turning to his wives. "My dears, I will need a favor from each of you."


	12. A Hospitable Welcome

The rest of their trip was awkwardly silent, with nothing lingering between them but the cold air and a slightly waning resentment of one another. As much as they hated to admit it, they were growing accustomed to each other's contradictory personalities. She was getting used to his laid-back, mostly spontaneous strategies, and he was adjusting to the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he would never be able to touch her with a ten-foot pole. Ash stared over at his female companion with a certain disdain, then wiped the blood dripping from his nose with the long end of his cloak. Even though he'd pushed the cartilage back into place nearly an hour ago, it still stung at him, mentally and physically. He just had to ask that question and get it out in the open.

"Just how the hell does breaking my nose make us even?" he asked spontaneously, the surprising loudness of his voice breaking the eerie silence and sending flocks of birds fleeing from the treetops. He stared over at her for a logical answer, but all she offered him was a dry, disdainful scoff.

"I've been keeping score ever since we came here." she replied after a few seconds.

"The time you slapped me was self-explanatory. Unlike your American whores, I don't enjoy being hit, and I was being generous by breaking _only_ your nose. And as you may recall, you kissed me and...slapped my bottom the other day, so I had no other choice but to retaliate."

He cocked his head to the side at her insane logic, and once again, his eye twitched.

"So rather than enjoying a man actually touching you like any other normal woman on the face of the planet, you decide to get payback by turning a guy on, then kicking him in the balls?"

She nodded simply.

"Why not?" she answered, her voice tightening a bit. "I wanted you to feel as much pain and humiliation as I did. If you haven't noticed Mister Williams, I get nervous whenever a man touches me, and I sort of...lash out. It's kind of like a reflex; almost like a _need_ to be aggressive. It's easier for me to express emotions that way."

He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, for fear of her cutting his tongue out or something equally unpleasant. The question burned inside his head and gnawed at his brain, and finally his curiosity reached its peak.

"You...you've never gotten laid, have you, Nitaliyah?"

She fell silent for a few seconds, and yet again focused her eyes ahead of her.

" 'Gotten...laid'? Whatever do you mean?" she asked slowly, looking around as if the answer was hidden in the air. He chuckled at her dumb expression and sighed.

"You know..." he said, looking over at her expectantly. "When was the last time you got some? Scored? Knocked boots? Screwed somebody? Or actually let a guy hit?"

She stared off into space for a minute or so, then returned his gaze.

"This morning when you hit me, and then I hit you back." she answered plainly, her bright eyes wide with gullibility. "I didn't necessarily _let_ you do it, but you did anyway. Does that...count?"

She had a certain look of cutesy, childish innocence in her eyes, one that was too priceless. Ash leaned forward and laughed at her, not fully understanding how a woman he considered to be so smart could be so...stupid.

"No, no, sweetheart." he answered, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye. "What I mean is, if you were given the opportunity, would you ever let a man --- "

Ash leaned over and whispered something undeniably X-rated in her ear, something that nearly mirrored the things he said to Gina Reyes nearly three years before. As he leaned back from her, he took slight enjoyment in watching her face contort in horror, her eyes widen, and her cheeks burn a vicious bright red.

"NEVER, YOU...PERVERT!" she screamed, slapping him fully across the face. He stared over at her in a mixture of pain and confusion, tears stinging the inner rims of his eyes.

"Jesus Christ! What the hell was that for?!" he asked, his question being met by another unexpected shriek and one more hard slap across his face, this one leaving a red handprint across his right cheek.

"YOU BLASPHEMED...THREE TIMES!" she practically screamed at him. For a minute or so, he stared over at her, completely floored. It was now that he realized that there were two entirely different personalities to this woman. There was the easy-going Nitaliyah, who smiled, laughed, drank alcohol, and made dirty jokes. Then there was the hard, sober part of Nitaliyah who was sexless, stuck-up, and acted as if she operated on PMS. Like practically every other woman he'd ever met, Ash quickly decided that he liked Nitaliyah better when she was half-naked and drunk.

"What's the matter with you, lady?" he asked, closely following her shocked expression.

"What's the matter with _you_, you...RAPIST?!?" she screamed at him, pushing Hephaestian to go faster. Ash rolled his eyes in contempt. As if he hadn't heard _that_ before.

The horse moved ahead of Ash and Dionysius and was positioned right in front of them, leading them. Their chase lasted roughly twenty minutes, thirty if you counted the one time Ash was forced to stop and clean the bugs and dirt out of his teeth. By that time, Nitaliyah was already ahead of him, so far ahead that he could no longer hear the horse's heavy hooves pounding against the dirt. He began to get worried, but not about Nitaliyah, of course. She could rot in hell as far as he was concerned. For all he knew, this might have been some kind of sick game; another test designed to see if he was worthy of her sordid companionship. For all he knew, she probably left him there deliberately to be finished off by anything ranging from sadistic Transylvanian cannibals to flesh-eating wolves.

That BITCH!

Almost immediately, Ash gripped the horse's reins and forced his body forward, commanding the gentle beast to do the same. Dionysius let out a discontented grunt and raced forward through the thick stretch of forest and around the bend, the same route Nitaliyah had taken only minutes before. The gathering wind stung his eyes and painfully whistled in his ears, but he'd be damned if he died alone in the middle of the woods. After a few minutes, Ash sharply pulled on Dionysius's reins and came to a screeching halt as he saw Nitaliyah and Hephaestian standing motionlessly at a long rope bridge. The bridge was stretched over a deep canyon that seemed to be filled with fog, hiding anything that may be lurking at the bottom. He plodded up beside them, only to see both horse and mistress had a blank expression on their faces. Ash waved a hand in front of Nitaliyah's face, only to get no reaction. Just what the hell were they staring at? Ash finally turned his head and looked out towards the horizon and found the answer to his question.

It was a castle, no, --- a _fortress_. Beyond the rope bridge stood a colossal structure, as long as ten football fields and so tall that it seemed to stretch to the heavens. The place seemed to be thousands of years old, and was far larger than the Van Helsing estate. From what he could see, a large gate separated the forest beyond the bridge from the fortress. The gate itself was dark and foreboding, and Ash could see dismembered heads and rotting skulls mounted on spikes gracing the top of the gate. Large fires on the higher tiers could be seen from where they stood, and what looked like giant catapults stood on both sides of the castle. The grounds were surprisingly empty, and not a guard, sentry, or archer could be seen. Ash looked back at his comrade, and felt slightly nervous as a smile passed across her face.

"They're expecting us." she whispered, her eyes bright with anticipation.


	13. Confessions of a Holy Man

Forty-two-year-old Gabriel Van Helsing sat up in his makeshift bed, his mind racing. His skin was covered in cold sweat, and his chest felt as if it had been set ablaze. He bit his lower lip and rested his forehead on his knees, his eyes tightly shut. He had that terrible dream again...the same nightmare in which the two things he loved the most were taken away from him in the blink of an eye. It had been ten years since that fateful night, but the details of the horrid act remained imprinted in his mind, and would haunt him for the rest of his life.

"_NO! LET HER GO, YOU BASTARDS!"_

"_Gabriel, please! Gabriel! GABRIEL!"_

"_Tell us where you've hidden the Book, peasant!"_

"_Open your eyes and LOOK at her, Helsing! Watch your harlot SCREAM!"_

He shut his eyes even tighter as images of his wife passed through his mind, and he tried his hardest to fight back tears. He imagined her beautiful, smiling face. He remembered the way her gorgeous hazel eyes sparkled in the dim candlelight of their bedroom, and how he loved rubbing her swollen stomach while she slept. Sophia was six months pregnant with their second child when she was murdered. The image of her bloody, ravaged body would remain in his mind for the rest of his natural life, at the same time torturing him. He would never forget how a large group of barbaric soldiers had held Sophia down on the dining room table and resumed to viciously defile her, one after another. He would never be able to forget her horrendous screams of pain and how much she had begged them to stop. He tried to look away and break free of them but seven men held him down; their overwhelming strength, guns, and the bayonets pointed at his head and throat prevented the man from saving his doomed wife. They forced his head up and pried his eyes open; literally forcing him to watch the cruel, horrific act.

A harsh stab of splitting pain slashed through his chest as he remembered a certain cold-hearted soldier raising his sharpened sword high above his head and driving it downward into Sophia's pregnant stomach. The others held her arms and legs, laughing and cheering as she lay bleeding to death, hoarsely whispering her husband's name. Gabriel would never forget the imputing gaze lingering in her eyes as she lay dying; one that accused him more in death than they ever did in life. That night he felt as if she hated him, and in truth, he didn't blame her. A part of him wished to sacrifice himself and get his throat slashed in order to save her, but he couldn't. As bad as he wanted to, he couldn't save her. Despite her rough upbringing, Sophia was a good, pure woman. She was a virgin when they married...she was an excellent wife and mother. She didn't deserve such an undignified, shameful death.

Then he began to think of his daughter, and where she was. She was just a child at the time, and fearing for her safety like any worried father, Gabriel ordered Nitaliyah to go into the southern wine cellar. Unlike the other three cellars, it was well-hidden but easily accessible, and held an abundant supply of food and water in case the troops decided to occupy the castle. She was smart and obeyed his orders instead of staying in the vestibule and fighting off the soldiers, as he would have done if he were her age. Gabriel smiled faintly as he thought of her, and all the joy the little girl had brought to his life.

She held her mother's beauty and massive intelligence, but had his fiery personality and often defiant spirit. Though Nitaliyah was always a faithful and resourceful child, a part of him began to think that she had forgotten about him altogether. There was also the grim possibility that she had been found in the cellar that night and executed in cold blood. In the back of his mind, he could see her skeletal body leaning against the dusty wine barrels, bearing countless bayonet wounds and bullet holes. Silent tears streamed down his face as he pictured his daughter's lifeless arms wrapped around Emmie, the porcelain doll he had bought her during one of his many trips to Vatican City.

The sound of metal scraping against stone was enough to force Gabriel back into reality. He looked over his shoulder to see a small stone tray laying in the slit at the very bottom of the floor, holding what was supposed to be his breakfast. It basically consisted of a mug of curdled milk, a hard barley roll, and a mash of boiled potatoes mixed with raw turnips. Depending on the day or the guards' moods, a slice of meat or a square of cheese would accompany the meal. It would almost always be rotten or green with age, but either way, he never ate it. The thought alone would make normal people cringe with disgust, but at times, Gabriel would find himself so hungry that he had to scarf the meal down, dealing with the internal consequences later. He scowled and looked away from the plate, letting his eyes pass around the dark dungeon he was being kept in. There were no windows in his cell, and the only occasional beam of light came from the small slit at the bottom of the door, which was opened only thrice a day. Right now, he didn't feel like eating....he felt like killing himself.

He had tried desertion, but there was nowhere to escape to. Guards surrounded the castle, waiting to capture the man if he even dared to set foot out of the gate surrounding the castle. Even when he tried to escape, which was often, he would be severely beaten and tortured, but not killed. After a few days he would be thrown back into his cell, with fresh wounds that would eventually heal themselves. During his ten-year stay in Dracula's dungeon, his combined escape attempts totaled to three hundred fifteen. He had tried to committ suicide four hundred ninety-three times, ranging from anything to trying to slit his wrists with the sharpened edges of his meal tray to painfully bashing his head against the stone prison walls. In response to this attempt, the guards wised up and began to send him thick stone trays with dull, rounded edges which were nearly impossible to file down. He once tried to hang himself with a crude rope made from the plucked hairs of his beard, but that failed when he realized that there were no support beams or bars he could tie the rope to.

A faint smile made its way across his face as he began to finger the gold cross around his neck. It was a tiny thing, adorned with simple stones and a barely legible inscription on the back. Sophia had given to him as a gift over twenty years ago. He remembered that day well. They had just found out that she was pregnant with Nitaliyah, and the Order had called upon him to capture the Hell Hound of Versailles. She had even taken enough care to pray over it. She had given it to him on his first assignment, and since then, he had never taken it off. In the back of his mind he could see her standing in the courtyard, her dress billowing in the autumn wind as she watched his stagecoach roll away. He stared at it once again, and wasn't surprised when he felt tears streaming down his face.

He thought about taking off the thin chain and sharpening one end of the cross before slitting his wrists, but no. Although Gabriel was a devout Catholic and knew that suicide was the ultimate sin one could ever commit, he would rather die and face Lucifer than help his sworn enemy destroy the world. Besides, the love of his life was dead, and his only daughter probably shared the same gruesome fate. As far as he was concerned, he had nothing to live for.


	14. Breaking In

The two of them stood in awe as they began to near the gargantuan castle, which was obviously far larger up close than it was from the other side of the bridge. They crossed it without incident surprisingly, for Nitaliyah had expected some type of otherworldly sea creature to violently rise from its slumber and tear the rickety bridge in half, taking their lives along with it. The lack of such was both a surprise and slight disappointment to Nitaliyah, but she had far more important things to worry about.

Her eyes carefully scanned the ground at their feet as they walked the seemingly untrodden grass path. It was obvious that Ashley hadn't the slightest thought of doing so, since he was about four paces ahead of her. She spotted an innocent pile of leaves in front of them, one that seemed a bit different from the other leaves around it. She noticed that the individual leaves were golden yellow with autumn, while the ones in the pile were only slightly darker. She noticed that they would be identical to the untrained eye, and she saw that Ashley was about to set his foot upon them...

"Stop." she whispered urgently, grabbing his elbow and roughly pulling him back beside her. He stared at her quizzically, as if he was about to rip her head off.

"What the hell was that for?"

At that moment, a small, seemingly random pebble dropped from one of the stone gargoyles on the stone tiers and softly landed on the pile of leaves. The dead leaves sank into a large rectangular hole and were instantly replaced by a dozen or so long, sharp spikes protruding from the soil.

"That." Nitaliyah answered, directing her gaze back to him. "You should be more careful walking around here. Keep your eyes open."

She released his arm and walked around the spike pit, her eyes once again scanning the area.

"You mean there's more?" he asked, still staring at the pit he could have been impaled by.

"Of course there's more." she answered, hitting random tree trunks with the butt of her bow in an attempt to see if there was anything hidden in the trees. She looked back at him and offered him a half-smirk. "Bottomless pits, pressurized acid traps, impaling spikes plunging out of nowhere, quicksand pits, swinging pendulum blades...anything you can think of. I said Vladimir would be preoccupied, not stupid."

In a matter of seconds, a large iron cage collided to the ground, the inside completely fitted with piercing spikes. The contraption was old and rusty, and almost big enough to house a standing adult. The spaces between the spikes varied, in the case that if one wasn't killed by the cage's impact, they'd die of poisoning from the thick rust. It landed directly at Nitaliyah's feet, inches from where she stood.

"Now stop your tally-whacking and follow me." she said, once again eyeing the sky and ground as if in mistrust. For a second, Ash stood in deep thought; half in the realization that this woman was bossing him around, and the other half invested in the definition of 'tally-whacking'. Still, he did what he was told, and followed the woman like a loyal puppy would trail behind its mistress. But not because she told him to. He did it because he was a man...a smart man who had never set foot on the grounds of a booby-trapped vampire castle.

Together the two crept across the massive castle grounds, thankful that the autumn leaves were damp so they wouldn't be heard. As always, Nitaliyah kept her weapon drawn, her eyes focused on any target that happened to wander in front of her. To her disappointment, she saw none, but at least her theory was correct. She stopped and stared up, only to see a large column of black smoke emanating from a chimney high overhead. No one was there, since they were all busy preparing for the ceremony. She exhaled slowly and put her forehead against the castle's stone wall, and a slow smile spread across her face. A cold chill suddenly shuddered down the back of Ash's neck, and he felt his skin crawl. Something told him that he wasn't going to enjoy this not one bit.

Nitaliyah craned her neck around the corner and cautiously looked both ways, making sure the coast was clear.

"Come on," she whispered thickly, her hand gripping one of the thick, loose vines growing on the side of the castle. Ash looked up at the giant stone wall, and saw an open window about two hundred feet above them. He shook his head in an apparent no.

"You're crazy." he said, staring at the woman as if she'd grown a second head. Nitaliyah offered him a dry laugh as she held on to the vine and began to vertically climb up the stone wall. She looked back at him expectantly.

"Am I?"

Half of her face was shifted in a slight grin, and Ashley knew that she would go on without him, leaving the man defenseless against the wilderness or whatever the hell else populated Transylvania. He snorted and cursed under his breath as he followed the woman's lead and grabbed the vines; each just about as thick as heavy duty acrylic rope. He wrapped the vines thickly around his wrists and followed his comrade up the wall, trying his best not to look down. Ash hated heights. She probably knew that, and that was most likely the reason why they were taking _this_ route instead of the front door.

"You sure you know where this leads, lady?" Ash asked, now sweating bullets. His skin literally crawled as he heard Nitaliyah laugh again, this time more drunkenly. She turned and smiled at him sweetly, a bit of evil lurking in her bright green eyes.

"Of course I do, Mister Williams." she replied, staring daggers into him. "You trust me, don't you?"


	15. Interview With a Vampire

Everything was going so smoothly....now this. He looked around the basement, finding delight in the crews preparing for the ultimate celebration. This was his moment. His apex, his triumph. Tonight was the night the world knew the great accomplishment of Vladimir Illyich Dracula. The world would bow at his feet, begging him for mercy. He would be a legend and conqueror living amongst a kingdom of those as helpless and mortal as he once was. Dracula threw back his head and laughed. That was a thousand years ago, and he knew as well as anyone the pain of waiting.

"Excuse me, my lord." a voice from behind him interrupted. Dracula rolled his eyes and turned his back. Igor was standing there, trembling nervously as always.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly, almost murderously. The hunchback sniffled once and wiped his nose with his arm. Dracula cringed at the lack of manners.

"Everything is in place, Master." Igor answered, a crude smile worming its way across his face. Dracula grinned in satisfaction and licked his fangs.

"Very good." he said, his eyes glowing. "Bring me our guest."

With a swift flick of Igor's dislocated wrist, a group of muscled brigands wheeled an upright cart into the dungeon. A rugged, disshelved man was strapped to the cart with chains and thick leather straps, bucking violently although he knew he would never be free. The wild-haired man began to spit and curse, shaking his head wildly as he strained in a vain attempt to free himself. The sight amused Vladimir.

"Well, well, well..." Dracula mused, walking toward the cart with a certain smug grin on his face.

"If it isn't Gabriel Van Helsing...champion of all that is good and holy."

Gabriel felt his blood run cold in an instant, and a searing hatred filled the cavity of his chest. The horrifying, tortuous memories of years long past began to cloud his mind, and the images of what happened ten years ago lingered on his brain like a recent thought. This couldn't have been happening, even in his worst nightmares. He remembered so much about this man, but had never seen his twisted, evil face. Gabriel scowled and spit in Dracula's face.

"I would rather die first than help you do this, you sick bastard." he growled through clenched teeth, staring Dracula directly in the eyes.

"May God strike you dead where you stand!"

Vladimir laughed and wiped his face, then delivered a heavy blow to Gabriel's stomach, so hard that blood trickled out the corner of his mouth. Vladimir took a fistful of the man's hair and sharply jerked his head up so that their eyes met.

"You stupid mortal." he whispered thickly, intense hatred singed into his every word.

"There is no such thing as your fairy-tale God...only me."

He laughed and released the man's hair. He lightly fingered the simple golden cross Gabriel wore around his neck; the only thing in the world he had to remember his wife by. Dracula ripped the thin gold chain from around his neck, causing a brutal sting of pain in his skin. Dracula laughed once more and turned from his guards, admiring his newly acquired treasure. He ran his finger over the tiny inscription on the back of the cross.

"_May the good graces of the Lord guide you on your quest."_ he read in French. _"My heart will forever be with you._ _Yours truly, Sophia."_

He turned to his guards, who were smiling like the idiots they were.

"How sweet. The woman sounded like she loved you." he muttered, licking his lips then turning to Van Helsing. "But from what I remember, that delicious little wife of yours was quite the party favor."

Gabriel gritted his teeth so hard that a tooth chipped. His heart broke as Dracula dropped the chain to the floor and ground into it with the tip of his boot. For the moment, his mind flew back to ten years before. He saw the sword digging into his wife's stomach, and a distinct pair of golden eyes flashing with a sickening glee. It was this same man that murdered the woman he loved so much, and in the back of his mind, it all came together. Another white hot sheet of anger crept across his skin, and it was to the point that he could no longer hold back.

"YOU EVIL SON OF A BITCH!" Gabriel shrieked furiously, his face turning bright red with fury.

"I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS!"

The heartless beast laughed and dismissed his henchmen with a swift wave of his hand.

"Take him to the lower chambers." he said with a flagitious smile. "Prepare him for the festivities."


	16. Into the Dark

Right now, Ash had the sudden urge to vomit. He looked out the corner of his eye, and it took all he had to keep himself from fainting. He stared up at Nitaliyah, who seemed to be holding up better than he was, because of course, she was facing upwards. She seemed so cool, so relaxed. But then again, she wasn't the one focusing on their tandem deaths if she just so happened to let go of the vines.

"Are you okay?" she whispered back at him, glancing out the corner of her eye. Ash swallowed nervously and offered her a shaky laugh.

"Sure I am, baby." he answered, trying his best to fake a laugh. "The view from back here's not too bad, either."

Nitaliyah rolled her eyes and continued to climb up the wall, taking swift, ninja-like bounds. He followed her, and the constant bouncing made his stomach turn. After about fifteen more minutes, Nitaliyah reached the open window and carefully climbed through, cautious enough to check for sentries. She gave him a short nod and helped him through the window. Together, they surveyed their surroundings.

The room was completely dark, save for a torch mounted on the wall and a tiny keyhole. The stale stench of pungent household cleaner and moldy horsefeed wafted through the air, nearly choking them. The sharp odor coated the inside of their throats, so badly that they could practically taste it. Right now, Ash would have preferred the climbing to this place. At least then they had fresh air.

Nitaliyah stepped across the room and knelt down, peeping through the keyhole. She stood up and turned to him. She looked worried, if not completely confused.

"This...this isn't right." she said, shaking her head.

"What's not right?" Ashley asked, half of him not wanting to know. She pointed to the keyhole.

"There are no sentries in the corridor."

Ash shrugged.

"So? Why would there be? You said so yourself. Everybody's busy preparing for the ritual."

Nitaliyah turned her back to him and shook her head.

"Yes, but...they wouldn't make it this easy."

Ash scoffed and let out a dry laugh, rolling his eyes at the woman's logic.

"Seriously, lady. Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?" he asked, staring at her questionably. Nitaliyah turned around and grabbed his collar with a surprisingly firm grip before forcing his back into the wall, staring dead into his eyes. The dim light illuminated her face, making her green eyes look almost bright red.

"Don't say that....don't you DARE say that to me!" she growled angrily through clenched teeth.

"If I know Dracula, which I do, I'd know that he would have a few more tricks up his sleeve. There are no watchmen outside or on patrol because he wants us to let our guard down. He wants us to soften so he can get to us easily. What we have to do is take him by surprise."

Nitaliyah turned from him and pulled her crossbow from her parcel, loading the cartridge with a round of poison-coated arrows. She pulled a sword from her belt and thrust it in his hands.

"You and I stay together at all times. Got it?"

For a second, Ash looked down at his new weapon and glanced up at her wordlessly. The thing was huge, to say the least. The handle was smooth and pale, almost like ivory. The handle was delicately crafted with images of warriors and ferocious beasts, along with a shining red gem fixed in the center of the hilt. The long blade shone with an odd bluish-gray tint, and the dim orange flame casted a bright purplish streak of light into the room. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

"It was my father's." she said, as if reading his mind. "And you're gonna need it where we're going."

"I already got my boomstick. What the hell am I gonna need with---"

She shot him a cold, fierce look.

"Mister Williams, these vampires are a helluva lot harder to kill than your 'Deadites'. You don't just shoot them in the head. You fight them to the death. The strongest of bullets or gunpowder cannot kill them, and they seem to be immune to all but three substances: pure silver, white oak, and Holy water. That sword is made of all three."

Ash looked on in stunned silence, then directed his eyes back to the weapon.

"_I guess garlic and crucifixes ain't gonna work too well, then."_ he thought grimly, turning the weapon. Nitaliyah opened the closet door and stepped into the brightly lit hallway. She turned and motioned for him to do the same. He did what he was told and crept into the corridor, completely paranoid because of what he'd just been told. He took a silent deep breath and let his eyes rove around the wide corridor, almost feeling sick to his stomach. Something about this just didn't feel right.

Their footsteps thundered off the walls as they moved across the polished marble floor, and the more they walked, the more paranoid Ash became. He let his eyes scan around the place, glancing around at the large paintings and fine furniture decorating the place. It was nice, clean, and ornately furnished. Whoever this Dracula character was, he had taste. Too bad Nitaliyah didn't think so.

He looked over at his comrade to see her biting her lower lip and shaking her head ruefully. Nitaliyah pulled the map from her pocket and stared at it.

"According to this, we are now in the eastern wing." she said, glancing out at the window on the far side of the corridor. She walked up to the window and pointed out, to a large spire on the farthest end of the castle.

"Odds are that they locked Papa away in the western tower on the other side, but to get there, we have to...."

At that moment, all the color drained from Nitaliyah's face.

"We have to do what?" he asked, snatching the aged paper from her hands. He stared down at it for a few seconds, but the strange handwriting and odd symbols gave him a headache. Nitaliyah swallowed hard and blinked once.

"We...have to take a shortcut through the underground crypts." she muttered quietly. Ash let out a sigh of relief and stared at her.

"That's it? A lousy little graveyard? You're all worked up over a big pile of bones?"

She stared back at him cluelessly, her mouth slightly agape.

"There are stories, Mister Williams." she said, walking to the window.

"When I was a child, my mother told me of what went on in Dracula's crypts, and what he keeps down there. There aren't just bones, I assure you. He's storing his unholy army down there. That's what he needs my father for. He needs a man of pure heart to read the forbidden passage of the Necronomicon. Upon reading the passage at midnight, Dracula's legion will be released and take over the world. After that, the most we can hope for is a quick death."

Ash turned and offered her a cold gaze. He could almost sense the tiredness in her voice, and for a second, it sounded as if she wanted to surrender. He cocked his gun and roughly nudged her side.

"Look sweetheart, I don't know about you, but I ain't goin' out like a sucker. Neither of us is going out like a sucker. We kick ass and you know it. You're too good a fighter to say stuff like that, so stop being so goddamn negative."

Ash bit his tongue, and in the back of his mind, he wondered how exactly those words formed. A slow smile made its way across her face. For once, she didn't bother to correct the stupid pet name or slap him across his face for cursing. The crude pep talk helped, as he halfway expected it to. Their eyes met for a few seconds, then separated. In that small amount of time, something happened between them. The two were perfectly aware of that; they just refused to acknowledge it.

Without a word, Nitaliyah swung her arrow holster over her back and they started toward a nearby flight of stairs. On the way down the darkening corridor, she grabbed a torch. At this point, they both knew it was going to be a long, twisted ride.


	17. A Spontaneous Escape

He hated the thought of another person touching him.

The entire time Gabriel stood in silence as Dracula's attendant bathed him, rubbing the hard, soapy sponge over his chest. At some earlier point in his life, Gabriel would have categorized this moment as a fantasy, but given the circumstances, it was anything but. His masseur was not a soft, tender maiden. Instead, she was an abrasive, shabbily-dressed hellcat in her late sixties, with thinning grey hair and a large wart on the tip of her nose. From what he noticed so far, her eyes practically bulged from their sockets, and dark pouches of flesh hung aimlessly beneath her eyes. The woman had almost no teeth, and her gums were green with infection. Her voice was a harsh grating sound he had to suffer through when she muttered incomprehensible spells or when he didn't turn his body the right way. Given the old woman's diminutive stature and the large, bony hump growing from her back, he could easily overpower her and escape, but that would be a stupid decision. A burly guard stood in the next room, and two more stood outside the door, waiting patiently to take him to his demise in the tower.

Gabriel shuddered inwardly as the old witch ran the ice-cold water down his back. He could no longer stand for this. He couldn't stand idly by and let his arch enemy take over the planet and infinitely banish the heavens. The very thought of it sickened him, but nonetheless, he had a plan.

While the hag's back was turned, Gabriel grabbed a thick vase from a nearby table and struck the woman over the head. She let out an ear-splitting shriek and fell to the floor, and in a matter of seconds, a large pool of blood formed around her. Judging from the gray, pulpy matter oozing out the back of her head, it didn't seem like she was going to be getting up any time soon. Gabriel paused when he heard the distinct sound of rough, callused yelling; a sound he knew all too well. Responding to common sense, Gabriel pried one of the decorative swords off the wall and kept his eyes on the door. The door pounded inward with a loud crash, and at that moment, two guards charged into the room, their swords drawn above their heads.

Gabriel somehow managed to dodge their fatal swings and recounted, straining the weight of their two combined blades with his one. He grunted and pushed them away, then, with a blinding speed, managed to somehow slit the throat of one of the guards. The guard fell to the floor in a puddle, gurgling and spasming for all dear life. The remaining sentry stared at him angrily, his sharp teeth clenched together. As he lunged at Van Helsing, Gabriel quickly moved to the side, raised his blade, and brought it down on the sentry's shoulder, slicing his arm off completely. Blood sprayed across the room and onto the floor tiles in thick red sheets. The beast cried out in unbearable pain, stumbled a bit, and fell to his knees in shock. He stared up at Gabriel deliriously, a bewildered expression on his ugly face. Gabriel grimaced and swung the blade once. After a few seconds, his large head rolled across the chamber floor with a heavy thud.

Gabriel exhaled calmly and walked across the room to a long table, where his clothes lay neatly folded. After getting dressed, Gabriel took the guards' weapons. Before running out the door, he knelt in front of the butchered corpses, closed his eyes, and began to pray.

"_Forgive me Father, for I have sinned."_


	18. Undead Warfare

It wasn't as bad as they thought...so far.

Sure it was dark, since they were traveling through an underground crypt. Because of the limited light the torch offered, Ash and Nitaliyah could see about ten feet ahead of them as they traveled through the narrow passage. The place was made of solid brick, and couldn't be considered spooky unless one counted the haunting darkness, old tombstones, and the numerous skulls lined along the walls. The incessant dripping of water echoed through the cavern, putting both of them slightly on edge. Through the darkness, Ash could feel the softness of Nitaliyah's hand curled around his. Neither of them dare speak of it out loud.

A gilded door blocked the entrance to the other side of the cavern. It looked as if it had a key, but the knob was broken off, and the keyhole had been rotted through.

"It should be straight through here." Nitaliyah whispered, pushing aside the old door.

The hair on the back of both their necks stood on end, and they instinctively drew their weapons as the sound of flapping wings quickly filled the cavern, echoing off the hollow walls of the cave. The combined shrieks of thousands of bats riddled the air, becoming an unsavory feast for their ears. After a few seconds, the audio torture ended, and silence was restored. Ash looked around the cave, taking in the strange surroundings.

The place was neatly decorated with old coffins and what looked like a few dusty, ancient sarcophagi. The coffins were placed side by side along the walls, each with a tombstone at its base. There were also catacombs built into the walls, housing the dead who didn't seem to require a proper burial. Unlike the passage that led into the tomb, this place was larger and well lit, due to the wall lamps blazing every ten feet or so. A brief chill shuddered up his spine as he glanced around, feeling the utter Gothic creepiness of the cave. He looked over at Nitaliyah, who was still staring at the map.

"Please tell me this is the crypt." he said wearily. Nitaliyah sighed and shook her head.

"I'd hate to say this, but no. According to the map, the crypt isn't going to be for at least another half a mile to the north."

"Oh great." Ash muttered, taking a seat on a nearby tomb. "As if things couldn't possibly get _any_ weirder."

Nitaliyah smiled and sat down next to him.

"Trust me, Mister Williams." she said, reaching into her pack. "I have a feeling that it's going to get a _lot _weirder than this."

She uncorked another full bottle of absinthe and took a long draft of it. He cracked a faint grin as he watched her down half the bottle in a matter of seconds, then pushed it in his direction. He accepted and took a long swig, trying to mimic his female comrade. Apparently, Ash didn't know that the alcohol was far stronger than that of what they drank the night before, and soon, a raging fire scorched his lungs. His stomach flipped, unable to take in the sickening sweetness of the alcohol. After a few seconds, he choked, and ended up spitting his absinthe to the ground.

"How the hell do you do that?" he gasped, glancing over at her. She gave him a hearty pat on the back and stood up straight.

"Quite easily." she answered with a sly wink. "I've been an alcoholic since I was twelve years old, and like my mother, I have a long esophageal tract. So...I guess drinking comes naturally to me."

Ash laughed slightly through the burning sensation stinging his throat. Nitaliyah's last statement processed through his mind, and all of a sudden, he knew the _real_ reason why old man Van Helsing was attracted to Nitaliyah's mother. The woman could roast the hell out of a raccoon.

"LOOK OUT!"

Nitaliyah raised her head to see Ash drawing his shotgun, and judging from his alarmed expression, she instinctively ducked. He pulled the trigger and fired once, unleashing a deadly torrent of bullets. A shrill scream rang through the air, and Nitaliyah turned around to see a winged creature laying in the dirt, kicking lazily. The hideous creature squirmed pathetically, and after a few seconds, it stopped moving altogether before completely bursting into flames. He had seen that many times in the movies, but never, ever in real life. He wordlessly turned back to Nitaliyah.

"Um...would you mind explaining that?"

As Nitaliyah was going to reply, a deafening shriek shook the cavern, so severe that the earth shook beneath their feet. The dirt floor began to rise, bringing along with it the corpses of those buried in the cavern. Decomposing bodies came back to life and crawled from their graves, and with the bodies came an ungodly odor most mortal words would fail to describe. Within a matter of seconds, they were completely surrounded by the dead, and couldn't help but think that they would soon join their ranks.

"Any more bright ideas, Mister Williams?" Nitaliyah asked, pressing her back against his. Ash nodded and looked back at her out the corner of his eye.

"Only one, Little Miss Deep Throat." he answered calmly, unsheathing his sword. "Fight like hell!"

The two began to slash through the undead crowd madly, sending a gory array of blood, limbs, and decaying organs sailing through the air. Nitaliyah kept blasting the enemies away with her crossbow, sending whole halves of bodies sailing across the cavern and smashing messily into the walls. Every now and again, she refilled her cartridge and resumed her impossible chore. Ash on the other hand, seemed to be having fun watching the undead corpses burst into flames when her father's blade rammed into them. His chainsaw of a left hand cut enemies clean in half, and he seemed to enjoy the carnage. He was even laughing. Such a strange, strange man. Nitaliyah's eyes went wide with terror when she realized that she was out of ammunition.

"ASHLEY! I NEED YOUR STICK! **NOW**!" she screamed at him desperately, now using the sharpened end of her crossbow as a makeshift bayonet. Ash glanced at her out the corner of his eye, at the same time struggling to stave off a particular armor-clad cadaver who absolutely refused to die.

"I'D LOVE TO GIVE IT TO YOU, BUT I DON'T THINK THIS IS THE APPROPRIATE TIME FOR THAT, NITALIYAH!" he screamed back over the combined voices of the crowd.

Nitaliyah gritted her teeth in annoyance and resumed stabbing the crossbow into the stomach of a cadaver and flinging it across the cavern onto a sharp stalactite.

"NOT **THAT** STICK, YOU IDIOT! I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOUR GUN!"

He handed her the Remington and she pulled the trigger, sending a wide array of pellets scattering into her side of the crowd. Faces were obliterated, bodies were decapitated, and weapon-wielding arms were decimated. The one shot helped, but to her dismay, the army grew stronger each time they struck. An idea formed inside her head at a quick pace. She surveyed the size of the cavern, but was unsure. It was a risk, but if her knowledge of science and physics served her right, their chances of escaping unharmed were pretty good.

"This is useless," she said. "Come with me."

Nitaliyah grabbed Ash by his collar and darted through the crowd of rotting corpses, blindly stabbing and slashing her way through. Ash trailed behind her, finishing off what was left of the undead mob. After about two hundred yards and several hundred thousand feet of intestines later, they stood in a narrow end of the cavern, covered in dust and blood. Luckily, the corpses weren't able to climb the six feet up the wall it took to reach the archway. Nitaliyah turned from the mob and pulled something from her belt. It was a pretty little golden orb about the size of a cherry. It was inscripted with a Latin proverb, but Ash was too lazy to actually read it. Ash glared at the object, then focused his eyes back onto the thousands of ghoulish corpses literally multiplying before them.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me." he said in obvious doubt.

Nitaliyah smirked and turned a tiny red dial on the top of the orb before dropping it at her feet. She grabbed his hand and fled into the doorway, barring the iron door once they were on the other side. They stood at a safe distance and watched as the shadows underneath the door were overcome by a blinding white light, and the loud, raucous screams were silenced by a harsh crashing noise. Fire briefly engulfed the room, and they knew that because flames actually shot under the door. After a few seconds, the fire died down, and a complete, unnatural silence lingered in the cavern.

Once again, he turned to her, his face yet again confused.

"Now would you mind explaining _that _? " he asked, pointing to the wisps of grey smoke emanating from underneath the door. Nitaliyah chuckled and playfully rubbed the barrel of Ash's shotgun.

"_Brontos._" she replied simply before walking deeper into the cavern.

....That day, Ash learned that when you're trapped in a room full of undead flesh-eating zombies, sometimes size really _doesn't_ matter.


	19. The Wrath of Vladimir

"GONE!? WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE?!"

Igor ducked instinctively as his Master began flinging things across the room in a fit of rage. He saw his master throw a bottle of wine across the room and into the wall, and wantonly sweep the contents off his desk.

"He he's guh--gone, Master." he stammered nervously. "He must have esca-escaped through the wuh-wuh window. All of the guards were muh-muh massacred."

He flinched in terror as Dracula rushed towards him, his golden eyes now a slight pink with rage. The anger had completely erased his master's handsome facade and calm demeanor, leaving a personality that one couldn't help but be afraid of.

"Buh-buh-but muh-Master, I tried to wuh-warn ----"

Igor yelped out in pain as Lord Dracula grabbed him by the neck with both hands and forced his back into the wall, staring at him with a gaze that threatened to slit his throat. His normal, sly grin had been replaced by a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth that still dripped with blood from last night's supper. Still he couldn't get the haunting image out of his head. He couldn't forget how his master had stalked in the shadows, watching the young woman silently before springing out of the brush and sinking his teeth into her neck, raping the life from her like some kind of wild animal. His stomach flipped violently as he remembered carrying the maiden's nude, bloody corpse into the cellar and storing it in a vat of apple vinegar just in case his master wanted a snack for later.

"You tried to warn me of _what_, you disgusting little worm?" Dracula hissed, viciously digging his claws into the skin of Igor's neck. Igor gasped for air, his breaths coming out in short wheezes.

"I--I tried to tuh-tuh tell you and the guards that Vuh-Van Helsing was far smuh-smuh-smarter than he luh-looked."

Dracula constricted his grip even tighter.

"Smarter? How the hell do you figure that?!" he yelled furiously, his nails now digging so far into Igor's flesh that blood oozed from the wounds. Igor gasped once again, his hands firmly wrapped around Dracula's wrists.

"He...is trying to fuh-find a way back into the...fuh-forest. He....should be truh-truh traveling through the luh-luh-lower levels by now, where we won't....fuh-find him ."

Dracula looked away from the hunchback and stared out the window thoughtfully, and in the back of his sordid, twisted mind, it all came together. A slow smile crept across his face as he released Igor. The hunchback fell to the floor and his head, and Dracula began to smirk evilly.

"Well, well, then." he muttered to himself, his eyes gazing out the window and to the setting sun.

"Two can play at this game."


	20. A Mad Dash to Freedom?

Right now, he couldn't think straight.

With the guard's pistol nestled in his hands, Gabriel was on edge as he crept through the darkened hallways. He carefully loaded the bullets into the chamber, at the same time easing his breaths. The murders he had committed earlier gave him a certain rush, and since then, the world was naught but a hazy blur. His eyes watered involuntarily as he stalked down the long hallway, looking around to see where he was. Judging from his position, Gabriel concluded that he was standing in the western part of the castle. His main objective was to find a way into the central tower, where Dracula was to be for the night. Then he could even the score, and repay the heartless fiend for all the years of suffering he had inflicted upon him...

The immediate sound of clattering weapons and heavy boots bounded down the corridor, in his direction. He looked around, trying to find somewhere he could escape to or hide, at best. Thinking quickly, Gabriel dashed into one of the old rooms at the far end of the hallway. It was dark and it smelled horrible, but at least it provided him with shelter for the time being. He took a deep breath and held it, shutting his eyes tightly as he did. He thought about shooting the guards, but he couldn't do it, for risk of being discovered. If two dead centries were found lying in the middle of the corridor, then the others would obviously know that he had been there, and was headed for the crypts. They would know exactly where he would be, and he couldn't afford that chance.

The sounds of rough voices came closer and closer, nearing the room door. He dared himself to look out, and responding against his better judgement, he did. As he peeked through the keyhole, two brawny bodies completely passed him and dashed farther down the hallway, still shouting. He sank down and breathed a quick sigh of relief, his hand still clutching the handle of the pistol.

He opened the door and slinked out of the room and back into the corridor, looking both ways to make sure it was safe. To his relief, he saw no more guards or hear any more voices. From what he knew about the castle's blueprints and things he had heard from long-dead prisoners, he concluded that he would have to go deep into the crypts in order to get to the other side and the central tower. Gabriel ran down the hallway as fast as he possibly could, grabbing a torch as he descended into the darkness.


	21. First Impressions

The two of them continued onward, deeper into the dark, dank crawlspace beneath Dracula's castle. Like before, it was shrouded in darkness, and the fire in their torch began to wane slightly, casting a faint orange glow onto the walls. Ash watched as Nitaliyah cautiously read the map, her lips mouthing words that he couldn't understand unless fully spoken out loud. He had the impression that the map was written entirely in Latin, hence the Greek alphabets scribbled onto the fragile parchment.

They traveled through another cave, but this one was not like the others. This cave was made entirely of small rooms with doors, having the appearance of the bottom floor of an apartment buliding rather than another bat-infested cavern. He could feel an odd tightening sensation blasting through his kidneys and burning his stomach, twisting his bladder into a series of uncomfortable knots. Apparently, the absinthe had gone straight through him. He bit his lower lip to combat the slight pain, then turned to his comrade.

"I'm gonna go take a piss." he said. Nitaliyah once again pulled her pocket watch from her pack.

"Go on. You have ten minutes. Remember --" she answered, still staring at the map. Ash handed her the torch and walked away, dismissing her warnings with a swift wave of his hand.

"I know, I know..." he mumbled to himself, entering one of the rooms and slightly cracking the door behind him. "Stay alert and be prepared at all times. I got it."

Ash looked around and saw nothing, so he presumed it saw safe. Besides, he had a genuine badass Van Helsing sword at his side. No one or no_thing_ would be stupid enough to try to attack him now. Ash unzipped his pants and was about to empty his bladder when he heard the door slam shut behind him. Before he could react, a blinding white light illuminated the room, and the sound of femenine sobbing could be heard echoing off the walls. Ash turned around to see a woman cowering in the corner, her

face buried in her hands. She stared up at him in a mixture of wonder and fear.

From what he could see, the woman was gorgeous. She had large blue eyes and long blonde hair, and looked like something like an angel. For a few seconds she stared over at him, her pale skin riddled with dark bruises as if she'd been beaten recently. A ratty old tarp hid her body, and her hands trembled weakly as she tried to cover herself. She looked broken and abused. She must have been one of Dracula's "pleasure" slaves. He cringed at the idea, and all of a sudden, Ash shifted into full Boy Scout mode.

As he tried to near her, the woman began to cower even more, as if blindly scrambling to get away from him.

"Hey, lady." he said gently, the softness of his voice surprising even him.

"It's okay...I'm here to help you."

He knelt down to face the woman and she stared up at him, her passionate blue eyes wet with tears. He watched in confusion as the woman's thin lips turned upwars into an attractive smile.

"I've been waiting for you, Ashley." she whispered seductively.

The anonymous woman pulled back the blanket to reveal that she was in fact, stark naked. Ash couldn't believe his mind when the nude woman shifted her body forward and planted her lips on his in an urgent kiss. He had no idea who this woman was, and had no clue as to how she knew his name, but as far as he could tell, those things didn't really matter right about now.

She exhaled and pushed him flat on his back, so hard that he hit the back of his head on the stone floor, and Ash's sword slid across the floor with a thick metallic twang. He turned his head in the sword's direction, but she tilted his head to the side so that their eyes met. His action was met with yet another warm, tonsil-searching kiss. At any other time, he would have felt like he was in heaven, but something about this didn't seem right.

"I'm...I'm real sorry lady," he stuttered, unable to take his eyes off of the woman's magnificent body.

"But I got a friend outside. She's waitin' for me."

The anonymous woman chuckled and straddled his hips, her hands splayed on his chest and undoing the buttons of his shirt.

"You don't have to go so soon. We can have a bit of fun." she cooed in her strange yet sexy Romanian accent. She grinned once again and gently licked the skin of his neck.

"Besides....I can do things to you that your lady friend can't even _pronounce_."

That statement alone sounded quite inviting, so he didn't really bother to move. Completely ignoring his screaming conscience, Ash just laid flat on his back, letting this mysterious woman nibble on his earlobe and gently suck on the skin of his chest, at the same time letting his mind wander elsewhere. She took both of his wrists and stretched them out on both sides of him. Apparently, he liked when a woman took control. The woman stared down at him and smiled, a lustful gleam on her heavenly face. She bent down and continued to kiss his collarbone, but for some reason, she paused every few minutes to lick his neck.

"You taste so good." she whispered into his ear thickly.

"I could just drink you right up."

Something about that didn't sound quite right.

The mysterious woman sat up straight, and Ash almost screamed. Her angelic face was now grey, wrinkled and bony, and her darling sapphire eyes were nothing but deep yellow orbs hovering in the darkness of her hollow eye sockets. Her sexy smile was replaced by a horrifying toothy grin, and her chapped lips and sharp teeth were stained with dried blood. Her dry skin was grey and saggy, and the thing's ribs were visible through its scaly skin. He even saw huge grey wings sprouting from her back. This was no ordinary woman...this was a vampire!

He tried to struggle against her, but she was too strong. The emaciated bloodsucker pinned his wrists out beside him, cackling deviously. He turned his head to the side, seeing the sword lying by the door. The vampire's long, dark tongue protruded from her mouth and once again licked the skin of Ash's neck. Unlike the other time, this was fairly unpleasant, and felt slimy, cold, and just plain...wrong.

"I think I'm going to enjoy you." she hissed, her two front fangs extending about a quarter-inch.

"I don't think so, bitch."

The cocking of a gun was enough to rouse Ash out of his state of virtual helplessness, and within a split second, a booming sound filled the cavern and the vampire's chest exploded. Blood, bone, and large chunks of flesh splattered into the wall, covering Ash with a slight mist of blood. For a moment, the vampire stared at him in shock, her hands now clutching the gaping hole in her chest.

After the smoke cleared, Ash saw Nitaliyah standing over him, the smoking boomstick clutched in her hands. The vampire's body slumped on top of him, and Ash quickly pushed the naked corpse off of him and stood up, at the same time buttoning his shirt. For the moment, he couldn't help but feel slightly traumatized. They watched as the dead body began to somehow freeze into solid ice as the room grew hotter. The transparent ice then exploded into a million pieces, sending an ear-splitting scream rocking through the cavern. Nitaliyah cracked open the barrel and loaded more silver shotgun shells into the cartridge, completely unaffected by what she had just witnessed.

"Congratulations, Mister Williams." she said flatly, handing him back his shotgun.

"You've just met one of Dracula's wives."


	22. An Extreme Makeover

He had sinned. He had sinned by killing those people. He had sinned by beating the old washer hag to death, and butchering the guards. At any other time Gabriel would have been in deep meditation, repenting for the lives he had just taken.

Once inside the cavern, Gabriel felt himself relax, and his tense muscles loosen some. His mind was still in a daze from what had happened less than an hour ago, and an invisible fire snaked around his legs. Christ...he hadn't run this fast in years. Luckily, the constant exercise he got from escaping and the awful prison meals he was served in the duration of his sentence were high in protein, gave him stamina, strength, and a body that would rival any twenty-year-old's. He turned around to see that the desolate cavern was decorated with old vases, possibly urns holding the ashes of Dracula's long-dead ancestors. He shrugged and let out a dry huff, then, with the stolen pistol still clutched at his side, Gabriel limped to the other side of the dark cave and rested his head against the wall.

"Where do you go from here, old boy?" he muttered to himself, mentally weighing the possibilities. By now, he could safely say that he was the most wanted man in Europe. There was a fairly good chance that the bodies he had left upstairs had been discovered, and for all he knew, Dracula's forces could be tracking him at this very minute. If he was captured, only God knows what would happen to him...

Gabriel opened his eyes and stared down into a puddle of water at his feet. He saw his rugged reflection, and the grubby beard he had grown after years of imprisonment and lack of hygiene. He knew for a fact that no other man in Dracula's castle had grown a beard, and that was really the only way the guards could identify him.

A slow smirk passed across his face as Gabriel removed a small bar of soap from his pocket and knelt to the small, foul-smelling puddle of water. He pulled a nearby vase to the floor, sending a glassy thud vibrating around the room, along with a pale cloud of dust. Using the soap, Gabriel rubbed his hands in the water, until a rich, foamy lather coated his hands. He spread the soap across his face, careful to coat every inch of his beard with the mixture. Gabriel reached out beside him and grasped a large piece of broken pottery, clutching it in his hand to the point that it bled. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, muttering a silent prayer as he chopped the hair from his face.


	23. REVENGE!

Vladimir felt his blood boil as he watched his wives' beautiful faces contort in sorrow. He cringed as he heard them scream, so loudly that every glass object in the room shattered. If he had been a mortal, his ear drums would have been bleeding, but it merely infuriated him.

"SHE'S DEAD!" Verona screeched, clutching her chest in pain.

"MARISHKA IS DEAD! THEY'VE KILLED HER!"

Vladimir watched as the two women collapsed to the floor and began to sob uncontrollably, shrieking their sister's name to the high heavens. He couldn't stand the fact that Marishka, his gorgeous little angel, had been taken away from him; killed by Nitaliyah Van Helsing and that worm Ashley Williams. What was more, he couldn't stand his other two beautiful creatures mourning like this. Aleera stood up from the floor and vanished into a white column of smoke. After a few seconds, Vladimir could feel her soft, icy fingers circling the back of his neck. He turned around to face his wife, staring into her bloodshot eyes. He wrapped the woman in a firm embrace and kissed her on her forehead.

"Our sister is dead." Aleera whispered, her voice full of pain and rage.

"I want to make them pay. Make them _suffer._ "

Vladimir nodded in agreement and turned his back to his grieving wives before leaving the room. He had an idea, and right now, he knew his surviving wives would be all too eager to help.


	24. Turning?

Ash and Nitaliyah were still traveling through the underground caves, their weapons drawn. Judging from what they had experience earlier, they didn't want to take chances with anything else, so they were virtually paranoid.

"So let me get this straight. This Dracula guy is real, and he's got not one, but _three_ wives?"

Nitaliyah nodded slowly, and reloaded the six-shot revolver she kept strapped to her waist. Like practically every other weapon she owned, the gun was made of silver, with a pearl handle that had her initials carved into it. Something about the bluish shine of the metal told him about her cold personality.

"Yes, and you've just met one of them." she said, glancing back at him out the corners of her eyes.

"You're lucky I got there when I did. Marishka would have torn you to pieces."

Ash scoffed, taking the statement into careful deliberation. In a way, she was right. If Nitaliyah hadn't been there just in time, he would've been lying on the floor of a cave, being lunch for some sick vampire dominatrix.

"Wait...you actually _knew_ her?" he asked unbelievingly. Nitaliyah shrugged.

"Only her name and not much else." she answered, putting the pistol back into its holster.

He began to think about what he had just heard, and how she came to such knowledge. Ash began to think that Nitaliyah had somehow become acquainted with the vampire at least once before now. Something told him that she was lying. He shuddered at the thought, and right about now, he could still feel her black tongue roving across the skin of his neck. The skin still burned, and all of a sudden, it began to sting. He stopped walking and held his hand over the back of his head, still feeling the huge knot left from the evil vampire bitch forcing his head back onto the stone floor. Nitaliyah smiled and directed her eyes back to the path.

In the back of her mind, she remembered the vivid dreams she used to have when she was a girl, before Dracula's invasion. She remembered the dreams not only being particularly horrifying, but feeling almost real. She always remembered waking up crying, and various parts of her body would feel sore. Once, Nitaliyah awoke to find her throat bleeding, and two tiny pin marks on the side of her neck. She never knew the cause of the pin marks, but all she could remember from the dream was a raspy voice.

"_Lucasta..._." a mysterious, eerie voice would chant to her.

"_Come t o us, my dear Lucasta. Join me at my side and rule as my queen."_

In the dreams, she could see nothing but a dim light and the vague outline of a man's face. The spicy scent of what seemed like incense combined with burning rosewood would invade her senses, making her eyes water. The rhythmic chanting would become faster and heavier, somehow forcing the girl to sweat in her sleep. The terror was so intense that she could almost feel a pair of cold, smooth hands groping her flesh with a gentle yet firm grip. A splitting pain would suddenly occur, and Nitaliyah's small, underdeveloped body would bolt upright in shock. Her bed sheets would be drenched with perspiration, and the insides of her legs would usually be sore, bearing thin, vertical scratches.

At first, her father wrote off the dreams off as nothing; saying that her mind was developing as she got older.

"You are very gifted, my little bon-bon." Gabriel often said, worry plaguing his face. "Your body is just trying to keep up with your brain."

A later theory of his was that the demonic dreams and bruises may have been an early sign of stigmata, and as a result, Gabriel had an exorcism performed on his daughter. Her mother, on the other hand, suggested that the dreams were unconscious visions of her past life. Nitaliyah was encouraged to reveal every minute detail of the dreams in order to make sense of who or _what_ she was before her current life. In either case, nine-year-old Nitaliyah was scared out of her mind, and chose to never speak of the visions ever again.

Externally, Nitaliyah shuddered. A sudden deathly chill blanketed over her skin, despite the fact that her body temperature felt like it had risen a hundred degrees. Her blood felt as if it had frozen in its place, and she began to feel light-headed. She suddenly felt the incredible urge to eat something; preferably meat. Raw, red, bloody meat. Her hungry eyes roved over to Ashley, and she stared at him lustfully. She wanted to see his blood. She wanted to feel his warm blood dripping on her hands and lips. She had the incredible urge to rip that man apart and drain every ounce of blood from his body. God...she had never felt like this before. What in the world had gotten into her?

Nitaliyah almost screamed when she felt Ashley's hand rest on her shoulder.

"You all right, lady?" he asked, his eyes wide with skepticism. She nodded and played back into her personality by shaking herself out of his grasp.

"I'm fine." she answered curtly. "I'm just...thinking about some things."


	25. A Merciful Gesture

"Dammit. Dammit DAMMIT!" Vladimir roared, gripping his jet-black hair with a firm hold. Igor stood in the corner, cowering in fear while simultaneously witnessing his master's horrible rage. Lord Dracula's face had burned a deep red, his skin was covered in sweat, and his eyes...well, his eyes were burning entirely red. Of all things, Igor knew to stay out of his master's wrath when he was like this.

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?" he shrieked madly, digging his claws into the interior of his desk so hard that the wood was beginning to burn.

"TELL ME, YOU INCOMPETENT WORMS! WHERE IS HE?!?"

Igor stared around the room nervously, focusing his lazy eyes on the many security officials standing in the room. They all looked so steady and noble, as if what Lord Dracula was saying neither concerned nor bothered them. Unlike Igor, most of the men had kept their composure, refusing to be frightened by the likes of the awesome, deadly advices of Vladimir Dracula. But deep down inside, they were simple cowards; spineless rogues who would burst into tears like girls before crawling back to their mothers' cursed wombs if given the opportunity.

Igor was snapped from his spell by the subtle, slightly maniacal chortle of his master. He looked over and saw Vladimir unsheathe a decorative gilded sword from the wall behind his desk, and he began to saunter around the room with the hilt in his hand. Although the thing weighed almost thrice as much as he, Vladimir handled the weapon with grace and poise earned from hundreds of years of battle experience.

"Now...I will ask you all again." he said carefully, in an eerily light-hearted manner.

"Where...is...Gabriel...Van...Helsing?"

No one replied to the question, and another slick, sickening smile wormed its way across the pale master's handsome face. He gently stepped up to one of the officials and bowed cordially in a gesture of respect. Judging from his heavy golden armor and the large, two-bladed sword at his belt, the man was the general of Count Dracula's army. His noble stance and fierce appearance backed up his extensive knowledge of battle, both on and off the field. General Vittorio Reichsdarht, his name was. Reichsdarht was once one of the most gruesome executioners in all of Romania, and that sadistic fact earned the respect of the master. With an awesome flick of his wrist, Vladimir raised the sword so that the tip pointed at Reichsdarht's chest.

"My fair General," Vladimir asked casually. "You have served me well in the past as you have now. Would you happen to have any information pertaining to our....little guest?"

Through the thick metal and padded armor, Igor could see the gargantuan quiver in fear. The man began to sweat profusely, and his hardened gaze was reduced to that of a feather pillow. Reichsdarht swallowed hard and nodded, presumably too afraid to even speak.

"Yes, my liege." he answered nervously, after a few seconds.

"I have sentries posted in the forest, and archers mounted on the walls in case he dares escape."

Vladimir sensed his weakness and laughed. He pressed the tip of the blade deeper into the man's chest armor, almost to the point that it nearly penetrated his flesh.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you, my General?" Vladimir asked innocently. Reichsdarht shook his fat, bald head and feigned a heavily bearded smile.

"Never, my liege." he answered shakily. "I would rather wish to die first."

Igor felt his flesh crawl as another one of those evil, toothy grins made its way across Vladimir's ageless face, and yet again, his eyes glowed bright red. In the blink of an eye, Vladimir vanished, and within seconds, he was standing directly behind Reichsdarht, the impossibly heavy blade of his gilded sword pressed against the bald general's neck. The man began to squirm helplessly like a fish out of water, but no one in the room dare to challenge the superhuman strength of Lord Dracula.

"My king!" Reichsdarht cried helplessly. "I...have...served...you!"

"You said you would rather wish to die first, General." Vladimir whispered thickly into the doomed man's ear. "And your wish shall be my command."

In the matter of a second, Vladimir dug his blade into the man's skin and brutally dragged the sword across Reichsdarht's throat, sending blood spraying around the room in thick, dark red sheets. The agonizing sound of the man's cries were only intensified by the maniacal laughing of Count Dracula, and the body began to convulse violently, causing the bloody mist to contort like some sort of macabre sprinkler system. A loud sigh could be heard after a few minutes, and Vladimir dropped the burly body to the floor, leaving it to spasm and defecate where it lay. Dracula licked his bloody fingers and clasped the sword in his hands so that the tip of the soiled blade stood against the floor.

"Now." he bellowed casually, gesturing towards Reichsdarht's large corpse.

"You have seen what I have done to someone whom I once respected and loved as my own kin. I advise you to find that Van Helsing twit or I will personally see to it that every one of you will suffer an even _worse_ fate!"

At the end of that statement, the room was immediately emptied, and all of the terrified soldiers either went to find the elusive target or a private place to vomit. Dracula smiled at the display, and focused his eyes on his equally horrified diseased servant.

"He didn't serve a purpose to me in life, so he may as well in death." Vladimir muttered crossly. He quickly turned a fierce gaze to Igor, and smiled inwardly when he saw the diseased man flinch violently.

"Igor, prepare our fine general." Vladimir ordered harshly.

"He shall be our feast for tonight and many nights to come."

The hunchback shuddered once more, but wasted no time obeying his master's orders.


	26. Reunited?

Gabriel had never felt so frightened in his life.

His heart threateded to burst from his chest as he ran through the darkened cavern, his torch's flame quavering as he went. Above him, he could still hear the heavy footsteps and furious voices of Dracula's guards, and frankly, his constant hypervenilating wasn't making the fact any better. His flushed, beardless face was dripping with sweat, mostly out of fear that he would get caught than the intense heat surrounding him. His legs felt as if they were burning; like a ravenous fire was snaking up his calf muscles and painfully inching towards his midsection. Although as a young man, he enjoyed testing his physical limits, this was totally uncalled for.

Gabriel was instantly snapped out of his trance by the sound of garbled voices hovering overhead.

"_Footsteps!" _one of the guards exclaimed. _"He must be headed to the south!"_

For a moment, Gabriel was scared shitless, but that was soon replaced by a quick sigh of relief. Luckily, a number of Dracula's guards were buffoons; simple men who couldn't find their asses with a map and a kerosene burner. Still, he had to get moving, because he knew that the guards would eventually find him. The earth pounded restlessly under him as he bolted through the dank caverns, splashing through foul-smelling puddles of brine scattered throughout the area. The warm, damp air sang in his ears, so severely that Gabriel thought he was hearing voices. His heart pumped even faster, and his lims began to burn as he drealized that he _was_ hearing voices.

Gabriel flattened his back against the cavern wall and closed his eyes, trying his best to decipher the voices. They were garbled together, and it was impossible to figure out what they were all saying. Maybe they found him. Maybe it was too late. The footsteps began to get closer and closer, and his hand instinctively dove for the stolen pistol at his side. The voices began to get louder, along with the footsteps.

'_It's either now or never."_ he muttered silently.

At that moment, Gabriel hear himself scream, and the world faded into a violent sea of red. When he came to, the cavern was illuminated with a bright orange flame, and two strange faces stared back at him angrily, their weapons drawn upon him as his were upon them. From what he could see, one was a ruddy, somewhat malnourished-looking pale man with a rugged face and ill-fitting clothing. In his left hand was what seemed to be a large gun of some sort; far larger than Gabriel's pistol. What susrprised Gabriel the most was the man's right hand, or lack thereof. Instead of flesh and bone, the appendage, from his hand to a percentage of his forearm, seemed to be made of _metal_.

"Hold it, buddy!" the man barked harshly, cocking his weapon as if he was about to fire. A slender hand lightly touched the man's wrist, as if to motion for him to stop.

Gabriel's eyes trailed over to see that the pretty hand belonged to a young woman. In her hands was a wooden crossbow, which was lined with silver. She had a skin tone reminiscent of caramel candy that looked sweet and soft to the touch. Her face was vaguely oval-shaped but attractive, neatly framed by her long crop of wavy, jet-black hair. Although the torch flame was considerably bright, he saw that the orange glow of the fire turned into an indescribable bluish-violet color in her big, bright green eyes. This young lady was beautiful, but familiar to a certain extent. In a way, she reminded him of something he had lost so long ago.

"Lower your weapon." the woman said softly, patting her comrade's wrist. "He doesn't look like one of them. Maybe he can help us get out of here alive."

Gabriel still aimed his pistol at the odd pair, at the same time listening to the cadence of the girl's voice. He saw her mouth move when she spoke, almost identical to the manner of Sophia. What he truly noticed was the barely noticeable crescent-shaped birthmark on the woman's right cheek, and tears welled in the older man's eyes as ten years' worth of pain and misery were erased in that one moment.

"_Emmelianne_..." Gabriel muttered unconsciously.

The young woman's ears perked, and she blushed. Only one man she had ever known had called her by the middle name her Creole mother had cursed her with. She turned from her comrade and stared over at him with wide, unblinking eyes. The pretty young lady smiled.

"Papa?"


	27. Bittersweet Absence

A slow smile passed across his face, and before he knew it, the woman he once knew as his little girl came rushing into his arms at full speed. Her arms were wrapped around his neck so tightly that they threatened to strangle him. He could even feel her tears seeping through the fabric of his shirt.

"Papa...I...I thought I lost you." Nitaliyah whispered, nearly choking on her tears.

Gabriel closed his eyes and muttered a silent prayer of thanks. He was relieved to see his daughter alive, so much so that he was literally rendered speechless. She pulled away from him, and Gabriel lovingly kissed his daughter on her cheek. He couldn't help but notice that the scrawny eleven-year-old girl he reluctantly left behind ten years ago had turned into such a lovely creature. Christ, she looked so much like her mother it was heartbreaking.

"My little bon bon..." Gabriel chuckled, tracing the outline of her face with his hand. "You're all grown up. I guess you're not so little anymore."

"Um...would you mind introducing us?" a certain male voice said suddenly.

Nitaliyah blushed and separated from her father. Ash could see that the look in her eyes had been entirely changed. First she was a cold-hearted spinster, now she was acting like what she truly was: a giddy little daddy's girl.

"Of course," she answered, clearing her throat.

"Papa, this is my friend, Ashley Williams. Ashley, this is my father, Gabriel Van Helsing."

Ash grinned inwardly. With the exception of that one time while they were in the crypt, Nitaliyah never called him by his first name. Now that she was starting to, he was beginning to like it. In fact, it sounded a little sexy.

The two men shook hands, but Gabriel began to eye Ash fairly suspiciously. The older man was a bit taller than him, with slight strands of grey streaked through his damp, dark brown hair. He was dressed in a dirty long-sleeved shirt and trousers, and the fragrant smell of soap suggested that the man had recently bathed. His bright green eyes were inquisitive yet piercing, and now he knew where Nitaliyah got her fierceness from.

"Ashley, eh?" Gabriel snorted. "Sounds like a girl's name to me."

Gabriel paused and turned his head to Nitaliyah, though never taking his eyes off Ash.

"You mean to tell me that _this_ is my prospective son-in-law, 'Liyah?"

Nitaliyah blushed hard, and she and Ash exchanged glances for a few seconds. Sure, she thought about it once or twice, but no. She would never marry him, not in a billion years...or at least that was what she kept telling herself at night. Once again, she nervously cleared her throat.

"Papa, Ashley and I don't intend to be married." she explained gently. Gabriel scoffed and gestured to the ring on her right hand.

"From the looks of that, I'd say you two already did."

Nitaliyah lowered her head and stared at the ring. It was a cheap little trinket really, and the only reason why she never took it off because she forgot about it. There was too much on her mind that day, like planning the journey to Dracula's fortress, finding mother's old maps in the cellar, gathering supplies, experiencing her first real kiss...

She stopped herself in mid-thought, and Ashley seemed to sense her discomfort. He saw the way her father's eyes narrowed on her, and how angry he looked.

"Papa, it was all just a misunderstanding."she answered. "Ashley and I aren't husband and wife. These rings are just worthless little trinkets."

Gabriel scoffed and paced in front of the two of them. His back was hunched, and his long-sleeved hands were clasped behind his back. Complete silence dominated the cavern as Gabriel's footsteps shattered the silence repeatedly. For a minute he looked like an anxious man waiting for his wife to give birth.

"Very well then, Nitaliyah." he muttered, his eyes focused on the floor.

"Did you allow this...man...to take your maidenhead?"

She felt Ash's eyes center on her, and couldn't bring herself to acknowledge that dumb, sheepish expression that made him look so adorable. She sighed and shook her head.

"No, Father." she answered. "My virginity is intact. I've never so much as seen a man without his drawers. Ashley and I are just ---"

"Just what, Nitaliyah?" he growled, stopping in midsentence. "Just friends? How do you know he's not trying to use you, or even worse, kill you? How do you know he's not working for that scoundrel Vladimir?"

Ash wordlessly rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"Cool your jets, alright, Pops?" he said, a bit agitated.

"Yeah, I'm friends with your daughter, but to the best of my knowledge, her cherry's still unpopped. I'm not trying to use her for whatever the hell you're thinking about, and I know for a fact that I'm not with any of these winged freaks around here. Now can we skip all the pleasantries and go, please?"

Gabriel turned his gaze to Ash and stared at him for the better part of a minute. A deafening silence once again flooded the cave, so harshly that the only thing that could be heard was the occasional dripping of water to the stone floor. The old man's eyes darkened a bit, and a cruel snarl tugged at the corners of the older man's mouth. Ash had seen that look quite a few times during his dating years as a teen, and knew exactly what Gabriel was thinking: _you touch my daughter, you die_.

Gabriel motioned for Nitaliyah to hand him the map, and she obliged. He carefully opened the parchment and examined it for a few seconds before slipping it into the inside of his shirt. Without a word, Gabriel began walking deeper into the cavern, through a tunnel that neither of them had never knew existed. They followed him, torch in hand. Nitaliyah turned to Ash and exhaled, somehow voicing her apologies.

"You think he knows where he's going?" she asked in an attempt to make conversation. Ash grimaced and cracked a smirk.

"I dunno, my little bon bon." he replied flatly. "He's your dad, not mine."


	28. A Family Affair

For the remainder of the night, Aleera stood on the balcony overlooking the garden, her emerald green eyes lost in the moon high above the castle. Half of it was the usual hue, the color of fresh milk on a summer morning. The other half was a deep, burnt orange color comparable to an open wound that hadn't healed properly. It was a grotesque sight indeed; a blasphemy against nature, even. But all the proud, vindictive woman could do was smile at it. Marishka would be so proud.

A thick chime escaped the grandfather clock back in the bedchamber, causing her to instinctively glance behind her. It was now two hours to midnight. Their apex, their triumph, would arrive in the span of a mere one hundred twenty minutes.

"Are you still dallying around out there?" a harsh voice said from the inside.

Aleera smiled to herself and walked through the door into the dimly lit yet finely furnished bedchamber.

"I am not dallying, Verona." she said coldly, turning her nose up at her sister. "I was just thinking."

The raven-haired woman scoffed and peered deeper into her crystal ball. Although they weren't actually sisters, Verona had made it her personal duty to see after both Marishka and Aleera, making sure they didn't horse around near churchyards or holy effigies of any matter. She also had to share quite a few things with the other two women; a kingdom, a castle, a husband. Honestly, the only reasons why Verona put up with the silly, daydreaming fool was because Aleera was fairly easy to manipulate, and her extreme love and devotion to her darling Vladimir. In retrospect, Verona wasn't attracted to many men, but only Dracula truly knew how to get her fire raging....

A thick garble of voices and smoky purplish fumes emanated inside the shining glass ball, and Verona quickly turned her attention back to the circular table she sat at. Another slow, eerie smile made its way across her gorgeous yet evil face.

"What do you see?" Aleera asked cluelessly. Verona diverted her attention from the crystal ball and stared up at Aleera, her tempting brown eyes blazing.

"They're here." she smiled. "The older and younger Van Helsing."

Aleera smiled along with her, and Verona stood up from the table. Verona walked towards Aleera and took her face in her hands. Verona noticed that her face was still streaked with tears from feeling the pain of fair Marishka's death, and to be honest, she still felt it too. For Lucifer's sake, they had no other choice. All three of them were spiritually liked through Vladimir; what one felt, the others did. The pain on Aleera's face was startling.

"The younger will suffer?" Aleera asked hoarsely, her innocent emerald eyes lost in Verona's face.

Verona smiled and pushed Aleera flat on the canopical, silk-lined bed. She covered Aleera's body with hers, letting her cold, thin fingers trace every inch of Aleera's beautiful, shapely frame. Though she despised Aleera's somewhat feeble mind, Verona occasionally enjoyed her lithe body. And since Vladimir was busy with the ritual tonight, Verona had to make do with what she had.

Verona lowered her face to Aleera's and planted an urgent kiss on the woman's lips, sucking Aleera's sweet, wine-flavored tongue as she did. After a few seconds of physical ecstasy, Verona pulled back and smiled once again. She then proceeded to brutally rip the clothes from Aleera's body, leaving the woman stark naked beneath her. She relished at the sight. Apparently, she was so strong that the fabric tore the woman's skin a bit. Verona smiled devilishly as she saw thin, delectable streams of blood flowing down the length of Aleera's beautiful, snow white body. The mere sight of the delicious, ruby-red liquid was enough to drive her mad, and sure enough, it did.

Verona bent down and began to kiss Aleera's neck, taking pleasure when she heard the woman moan. Her tongue gently scraped the skin of Aleera's collarbone, lapping up a sweet string of blood inching towards her right breast. Her urgent mouth wormed its way down to Aleera's chest, and Verona took it into her hand and inserted the erect, pink rose-colored nipple into her mouth. Verona began to suck the tiny organ tenderly, feeling the diminutive mound of flesh harden even more on her tongue. She immersed even more of the moistened flesh into her mouth and bit down tenderly, causing Aleera to shriek in an arousing mixture of excruciating pain and pure bliss. The sweet yet tangy flavor of blood gushed into Verona's mouth, and she, too felt the gratification of the act. Her red kisses then trailed back up to Aleera's swan-like neck, and she began to eagerly lick the pale, lilac-scented skin, once again finding joy in hearing her partner groan in pleasure. She sat up and smiled once more, collecting Aleera's attention with another warm, sweet, bloody kiss.

"Of course she will suffer, darling." Verona whispered seductively, covering Aleera's gorgeous, deathly pale body with her own.

"She will suffer and die, just as we did."


	29. Viva La Amor

For the better part of fifteen minutes, the trio walked along the cavern path, presumably in the direction of the central tower. Not a word was said since they had left the other cave, and that, versus a majority of all the horrifying things they'd seen so far, was by far the most awkward.

"So, tell me." Gabriel huffed, his eyes staring sternly ahead of him.

"Where did you find this...pig?"

Ash stopped himself, and gritted his teeth almost hard enough to chip a tooth. Of all the things he hated was being compared to farm animals. The only reason why he put up with Nitaliyah saying it was because she was a woman, and it wasn't his policy to strike a woman, as badly as he had wanted to at times. Nitaliyah silently splayed her hand across his chest before he could lift his shotgun. The pleading glare in her eyes begged him not to, and succumbing to her sporadic teenage-looking cuteness, he decided not to. A low exhale escaped his throat. Nitaliyah turned, glancing at her father.

"Father, I ---"

"Quiet, Nitaliyah." Gabriel said sternly, cutting her off mid-sentence. "I'm sure he has a mouth of his own. Let him answer."

"I came from a hundred years into the future, Papa Van Helsing." Ash said, well aware of the fact that Nitaliyah's eyes were still focused on him. He shot her an equally agitated look.

"Your daughter was trying to find her way here when she screwed up and took the wrong vortex into Michigan. S-Mart, to be exact. I found her kickin' ass between the soup and cereal aisle. And I'd really appreciate it if you stopped calling me 'pig'. "

Gabriel snorted, and chuckled under his breath.

"When a young man is in the process of taking my daughter's hand, I refer to him as I see fit." he answered, completely in disregard of Ash's simple request. Ash once again raised his shotgun, and Nitaliyah once again batted her pretty green eyes at him. Damn her!

"Papa, for the last time," she muttered, feeling her face burn red. "Ashley and I aren't ---"

The sudden faint sound of crumbling stone cut off Nitaliyah's sentence, and all three looked around; trying in vain to find the source. The water dripping from the ceiling had turned into a light drizzle above their heads, and the puddles beneath them had mysteriously gotten larger and deeper. Ash glanced over at Nitaliyah, whose eyes were now wide in shock as she stared behind them.

"Nitaliyah, exactly _what_ did you say this place was?" Ash asked, staring in horror at the far end of the tunnel. The ground shook violently beneath them, and the distinct sound of running water began to get closer. His female comrade swallowed hard.

"An underground aqueduct." she whispered hoarsely.

Gabriel turned around and nearly screamed. Coming towards them was a gigantic, hundred-foot wave, one that reached from the floor of the cave to the stalactites at the roof of the cavern. The mere weight of the thing was enough to crush them, and thinking quickly, the old man spied a ladder a few yards from where they were. The rusty contraption led upwards into a spot of light. Although he had no idea where it led, he reckoned that would be considerably better than the certain doom they were presently faced with.

"There!" Gabriel screamed, pointing to the ladder. The three ran towards the exit as fast as they could, letting their legs exert as much as possible. The plodding of their feet against the hollow stone floor was drowned out by the roaring of the massive wave, and they knew if they didn't move any faster, they would drown as well.

Gabriel grabbed hold of the bottom of the ladder and quickly began to climb up. The rusted ladder creaked against his weight, but that wasn't on his mind at the moment. He focused his eyes on the bright circle of light lingering above him. Ashley was behind him, and Nitaliyah was slowly but surely making her way up the ladder. A loud crashing noise yet again rocked the cavern, and the tide swept in furiously. The frothy, foul-smelling waters missed Gabriel and Ash by barely an inch, but the deep green waters sucked Nitaliyah beneath its waves.

For a few seconds, Ash stared down into the briny liquid mass, hoping to see some sign of his fallen comrade. He wanted to see her head bob up from the water, but nothing. He saw no trace of her, and he began to assume the possible worst. They'd come this far together. As much as he hated to admit it, Nitaliyah had grown on him, and was even beginning to grow fond of her. He couldn't let her die, especially like this.

Not wasting another minute, Ash sucked in a deep breath and released his hold on the ladder, allowing himself to hit the water. He dove deeper into the water, his eyes stinging from the saltiness. His vision was obscured by the green liquid, but other than that, he could see perfectly.

Ash almost let out a cry of horror when he saw Nitaliyah's body lying lifeless at the bottom of the cavern, tiny bubbles floating from her nose. From what he could see, her eyes were closed, and a thin stream of blood leaked from her left temple and upwards into the water. She must have fallen, then hit her head on one of the sharp rocks at the bottom. Ash swam to her as fast as he possibly could and locked her lips with his, pushing air into her mouth. He then wrapped the unconscious woman in his arms and swam towards the surface, exerting extra energy as he hauled both their bodies against the current. He couldn't let her die. She'd saved his pathetic excuse of a life more than once; the least he could do was return the favor. The thought alone gave him the extra fuel he needed to force his body along, like some morbid type of motivation. After a few minutes, their bodies broke the surface at the top of the hole in the ceiling.

Gabriel helped Ash through the opening, and Ash carefully laid Nitaliyah's body on the cobblestones, and Gabriel replaced the manhole cover. He heard nothing from her. She wasn't breathing. He took her limp hand and noticed that she had no pulse, either. Her rich brown skin was now pale as ever, and the slight gash on the side of her head made him assume that the worst had already happened. She was gone. Ash lowered his head and bit his lower lip. Dammit!

His head shot up when a faint wheezing sound slashed through the silence. Ash glanced down and saw Nitaliyah's chest heave outwards, and she sputtered a slight cough. Water began to spew from her mouth, and she gasped heavily. Her breathing was labored, and her eyes were bloodshot, but at least she was alive. She struggled to catch her breath, still coughing and wheezing and vomiting liquid. He smiled to himself. Right about now, it was cute...in a sick sort of way. She sounded like him when he was a chubby little kid clumsily fumbling for his asthma inhaler.

After a few minutes, she sat up straight, temporarily unable to speak. Her red eyes focused on him, and yet another deep gaze contained the two of them. If she could have said it, she would have, but only a strong arrogance and fiercely burning lungs prevented her from uttering those three magical yet terrifying words. She couldn't tell him; it wasn't in her nature to. It wasn't like a Van Helsing to let their emotions get the best of them. It wasn't in the Van Helsing bloodline to practically shout from the mountaintops the names of whom they loved. But Nitaliyah caved in. It was almost literally eating at her from the inside out. She threw herself against Ashley and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, pressing her damp, trembling body against his in an intimate hug.

She pulled away from him, and for a moment, Ash could swear that he saw a different light in her eye. She stared at him innocently, almost like a deer caught in the headlights. That cold, angry woman he thought he knew was gone, and had been replaced by a sweet, warm-hearted girl. Nitaliyah smiled faintly and rested her head on his shoulder, still locked in his arms. The sudden transformation scared the hell out of him, but he knew it was for the best...hopefully.

The sound of footsteps snapped them out of whatever trance they were in . Gabriel stood over the two of them, his face twisted into a disapproving glance. Ash though he saw a grateful flash of light illuminate the older man's eye before he scoffed and headed for the central tower before them.


	30. One By Land, Two By Sea

Gabriel, Ash, and Nitaliyah walked towards the large central tower, simply in awe of the spectacle awaiting them. The central tower of the castle was at least ten stories tall, made of fortified bricks and iron. The large gates encircling the tower were made of iron as well, and stained with the blood of many past enemies. As frightening as the scene was, they were surprised to see that there were no guards patrolling the outside. Ash scrunched his nose as he stared up at the pikes. The decomposing and skeletal heads of long-dead warriors graced the top of the gate, and bones were scattered throughout the grounds they stood on. A slight crunching sound immediately caught his attention, and he looked down in horror to see that he had stepped on what looked like a charred human skull. He grimaced and resumed his pace, trying to keep up with the older man.

He wordlessly glanced over at Nitaliyah, who was still in a daze. Since she was still weak from her concussion, Ash had to help her along so that she could walk steadily. Although she could talk now, she hadn't uttered a word since Ash had saved her from drowning, and her eyes were still glassy. She would have a coughing fit every now and again, and at times, it would seem that she would fall asleep while walking. Still, he held her up, and couldn't help but be slightly frightened at the hug she had given him earlier. It felt so warm and sweet, almost as if...she loved him. An intimate hug from a woman whose idea of revenge was putting a knife to a man's throat and violently threatening to castrate him. He shuddered and mentally laughed off the notion of him actually marrying Nitaliyah and having kids. The possibility of that _ever _happening was sky-high...but still possible. He glanced over at her and a part of him smiled. For some reason he thought she'd make a great wife and mother.

Gabriel unsheathed his pistol and charged up to the door of the tower. A small slit was built into the door, and out the slit stared two particularly fierce eyes. The person behind the door must have thought the elder van Helsing looked familiar, due to the fact that it sounded like he unlocked the door.

"Who goes there?" a gruff voice commanded.

Gabriel did not hesitate as he put the barrel of the pistol through the peephole and fired, sending a hollow, booming sound echoing through the damp autumn air. Ash felt Nitaliyah cringe, and a frightened gasp escaped her throat. Gabriel threw open the door and rushed into the tower, quickly motioning for them to do the same. They followed him up the winding staircase, and Ash was surprised to see that Nitaliyah had somehow managed to pull herself out of semi-consciousness by the time they reached the second floor. Thankfully, it was empty, but dimly lit, increasing the chances of anything that could leap out the shadows and tear them to shreds.

Gabriel glanced out the window and flattened his back against the wall for safety.

"There's no one in the castle, I know that much." he muttered crossly, gesturing towards the dim lights scattered in the woods far beyond the castle grounds.

"They must've thought I escaped into the forest, poor bastards."

Ash watched as Gabriel unfurled the map yet again and studied its contents.

"So what do we do now?" he asked, his eyes unconsciously roving over to Nitaliyah. Her head leaned back against the wall, and her eyes were closed. She was breathing deeply from all the running, and it took all he had not to move a damp strand of hair from her face. Gabriel cleared his throat for effect, and Ash was yet again met with one of the older man's infamous fierce gazes. Apparently, the old man didn't take too kindly to men staring at his barely conscious daughter.

"We defeat Dracula, that's what we do." he answered. "If I know my Vivie, she would have told me exactly where to find him...him and the Necronomicon. I'll handle him, while you two find the book."

At that moment, Ash saw Gabriel's hardened expression drop slightly, and his solid features softened to a degree. It didn't take the man long to know that Gabriel was speaking of his deceased wife, the beautiful yet broken dancer he met in Paris so many years ago. Ash thought he saw a lone tear fall from van Helsing's eye, but his arm captured it before it could trail down his rugged face.

Ash stood up and faced Gabriel, letting their eyes meet for the first time in nearly three hours.

"Why're you facing Dracula, old man?" he asked. "You know what kind of weapons he has. He'll probably overpower you and use you to take over the world like he planned to. Plus he's probably got traps everywhere near him and the Book. We'll all be sitting ducks!"

Gabriel grinned smugly and unsheathed his violet-bladed sword from Ash's belt. The once shiny blade was now crusted with blood, but still as noble and fierce-looking as it had been the first time Nitaliyah handed it to him. The older man motioned to Ash's shotgun.

"Not with these we aren't." he muttered, his voice taking a sharp turn. Gabriel grimaced and handed Ash the map.

"Now I suggest that you two make your way to the Book. It's me he wants."

Ash watched in confusion as Gabriel turned around and headed down the hallway, towards the staircase that led to the third floor. He nearly jumped when he noticed Nitaliyah standing right next to him. He stared over at her to see her eyes blazing with a certain knowledge that suggested that she knew something he didn't.

"Come on," she said quickly, rudely snatching the map from his hands. "I think I know where to go."


	31. Til Death Do Us Part

Gabriel plodded up the stone stair case to the third floor, and almost immediately, he stopped in his tracks and gazed around the corridor. The hall was long and narrow, with menacing stone and metal statues lined neatly along the walls. The air was cold and murky, so much to the point that it chilled Gabriel to the bone. His eyes silently roved across the corridor, knowing that Vladimir would have used his evil sorcerer magic to somehow vex the seemingly peaceful hallway Gabriel stood in.

A low gasp escaped Gabriel's throat as he heard an unearthly screeching noise coming from behind him. Gabriel turned around to see two ravens sitting innocently on the window sill. Their obsidian black feathers glowed a warm dark blue in the stark paleness of the moonlight, and they looked like ordinary birds....except for their eyes. They were deep red...almost like blood. As he crept closer to get a closer look, the birds eagerly flapped their wings in fright and took off the window sill and into the darkness of night. He shook his head at nothing, still trying to quell the goose bumps in his skin. Sure enough they looked like normal birds, but they were ravens....the bird mostly associated with death.

It took about a minute for Gabriel to compose himself as he ran down the hallway, through the aisle of carved grotesque gargoyles, demons, and torture devices lining the corridor. He fixed his weight on the large door at the end of the hallway and pushed inward with all his might, the heavy wooden door creaking against his wieght. Once Gabriel was inside, he canvassed the room carefully.

By all accounts, it looked like he was standing in a grand ballroom. It was a spacious circular room complete with tiers of velvet chairs stacked to the ceiling like opera seats. The boxes containing the numerous rows of seats were painted exquisitely, each one depicting a gory yet beautiful scene of ancient wars past. Large golden statues were tastefully placed around the room as well as ornate arrangements of flowers and vines growing around the windows, barely tapping the panes with their delicate budding red and pink rosebuds. The place was joyously lit via a large crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. The piece was so large that it seemed as if it had been crafted by God Himself. It was a beautiful display indeed, but one had to note the trickery behind it.

The sound of soft giggling was enough to rouse Gabriel's attention. As his eyes roved around the ballroom, the giggling continued to get louder and softer, louder and softer, as if a child were playing a game with him. He unsheathed his sword and began to pace around the room, trying his best to follow the spectral, soft voice.

"_Gabriel...my Gabriel..."_ the soft voice rang out again.

The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and when Gabriel turned around, he felt his heart skip a beat. His blood froze in place, and his brain couldn't register what he was seeing. This...this was impossible. She was standing there in front of him, her brown skin glowing just as beautifully as the day he first saw her. Her dark hair hung down to her shoulders, sweetly shaping her oval face and framing her delicate almond-shaped hazel eyes. A small smile passed across her face as she stroked her swollen belly through the fabric of her ankle-length white gown.

"Vivie?" he muttered weakly, his mind totally blank. She nodded and her smile grew.

"Yes, Gabe...it's me." she answered softly, stepping closer to him. She gently caressed the side of his face and stared into his eyes deeply.

"I told you I would be yours for eternity, didn't I?"

He was in total shock, for never in his wildest dreams did he ever know this moment would come. He thought he had lost this woman forever. He nodded blankly and stood closer to her, gently caressing her face and taking in the innocent beauty he loved so much. She drew his head to hers and kissed him passionately, gently nuzzling the side of his neck. Her body felt so soft and warm against his, and he was so heavily tempted to take her right then and there. She was more beautiful than he remembered. Gabriel leaned in and inhaled deeply, taking in the sweet fragrance of her perfume.

"I thought I lost you." he muttered.

She giggled a little bit more. Her laughter was always music to his ears.

"You never lost me, _Mon_ _amor_." she answered in her French accent. "I was with you all along."

In the back of his mind, he laughed. All these years he had convinced himself that she was dead; that everything he saw that terrible night was a devastating truth. In reality, Sophia probably was never gang-raped by soldiers, and she never died at the hands of her drunken murderers. It was all a horrible nightmare conjured up in his imagination for whatever reason. Maybe that he night he had been just kidnapped and Sophia and their baby had been spared. Her death was all a terrible lie he had told himself all these years to keep his mind off her real fate. He smiled at the fact that Sophia was alive and well, and so was their second child. She was right here, wrapped safely in his arms. Gabriel smiled and tightened his grip on his wife, making sure not to let her go.

"My darling..." he whispered, gently stroking her hair. "I've missed you so much."

"I'm back, sweetheart." she whispered to him. "And I'm taking you with me."

Gabriel could feel a smile grow across her face, and that made his blood run cold.

Instinctively, Gabriel pulled away from her and his eyes grew wild. The beautiful, warm woman he thought he had embraced just seconds before had been turned into a fiendish ghoul. Her gorgeous face was now skeletal and horribly discolored, her bright eyes were now empty milk-white orbs, and her dress had been reduced to rotting, foul rags. Her pregnant body was horribly bloated, with the exception of rotting flesh sliding off her ribs. Her swollen torso bore a long, grisly, oozing gash from where she had been dissected. This was all the handiwork of another world. This was a demon!

Infuriated, Gabriel reached for his sword, but was horrified to see that it was no longer in its holster. He glanced up to see the demon lunging towards him full-force, his sword clutched in her bony hand. Thinking quickly, Gabriel grabbed a decorative shield from the wall and blocked the blow, straining his weight hard against the demon's. After a few long, painful seconds, Gabriel was thrown back across the room and landed painfully on his back. He rolled over and rose to his feet, the shield still attached to his wrist. The demon leaped into the air and struck again, once again barely missing him.

She screeched with laughter, her voice now completely different than the soft giggles he had just heard. In the back of his mind, he didn't want to hurt her, but he had to remember: this wasn't the Sophia he knew and loved. This was a demon who possessed her soul. The demon threw back its head and laughed.

"Come on, lover boy!" she cackled, her eyes blazing. "Let's dance!"

Gabriel quickly countered the strike and hit the demon powerfully in the torso, so hard that the sword was sent skittering across the ballroom floor. He dove for it just in time and rolled onto his back, only to see the demon descending from him overhead. He pointed the blade straight upwards, and immediately, her eyes widened.

It was too late.

The demon was completely impaled on the sharp tip, its black blood oozing over the hilt and onto his hand. Gabriel stood up and powerfully swung the hilt, causing the demon to crash against the wall. He grimaced as he rose from the floor and painfully limped toward where the demon lay.

The pitiful corpse lay lying in pain on the floor, covered in its bitter dark blood. Its leg was lazily kicking outwards, letting Gabriel know that it was mortally wounded but not dead. Gabriel wrapped both his hands around the hilt of his sword and using his foot, moved the demon onto its back. Its bony hand was clutching the large, bleeding gash in its stomach from where it had been impaled.

"_Please, Gabriel..."_ the grotesque figure whispered in Sophia's sweet, tragic voice.

"_Please don't let me die."_

Gabriel raised his sword above his head, and at that moment, stinging tears welled in his eyes.

"...My wife is already dead." he whispered angrily, bringing the blade down on the demon's neck with all his mortal strength.

The demon's body convulsed before bursting into flames, sending an ear-piercing shriek sailing through the air. It was so severe that the room trembled violently, and every glass article in the ballroom shattered. The large crystal chandelier high above him came crashing to the floor with a thunderous, glassy roar, one that produced a beautiful yet broken constellation of crystal that could only be compared to that of the night sky. For a moment he stared down into the shattered mountain of glass, thinking of the happy days in his life that he took for granted, and how that was all taken away from him in a vicious act that, with even the help of God, he couldn't wash away the guilt.

Gabriel grimaced and wiped another lone tear from his eye. Gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, the heart broken man ascended the staircase on the far side of the ballroom, ready to even the score once and for all.


	32. Separate Fates

His legs could barely keep up, and it wouldn't be a big surprise if he fell on his face. Ash began to grunt in pain as Nitaliyah led him down into the cellar; his hand nearly crushed from the woman's deathly firm grip.

"Come on," she whispered. "It should be right down here."

They quickly descended a small flight of stairs only to arrive in what looked like a small crawlspace. Ash coughed and covered his nose as he peered around the cramped, dimly-lit room. It was a tiny place; barely big enough for one, let alone two of them to turn around in. Nearly three feet away from where they stood, a bookshelf was pushed against the wall, its shelves stacked with countless volumes of ancient texts. The warm, compressed air in the tiny space was dank and suffocating, smelling of rancid meat and vinegar. In fact, it churned his stomach to the point that he felt the simple urge to vomit.

Nitaliyah carefully unrolled the papyrus map and held it to the light of the torch, keeping it away from the flame to avoid damage. She stared at the paper thoughtfully, not saying a word. Ash sighed and rolled his eyes.

"There's nothing down here but some dusty old shelf. What the hell are you expecting to find?"

"Patience is a virtue." she muttered under her breath. "We just need a key."

Ash scoffed under his breath and leaned against the wall, wondering just what the hell was wrong with this woman. He was too agitated to notice that his elbow had accidentally knocked a brick loose. A loud slam crashed through the small space, and they both turned their heads to see that the door they had just entered had automatically slammed shut, leaving them trapped. Before they could try to pry the rusted door open, the heavy bookshelf slid into the wall, allowing a bright sliver of light to enter the room.

They both squinted as they headed into the large niche in the wall. The niche later gave way into what looked like a huge, brightly lit sun room. A large crystal chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, emitting a faint rainbow color around the room. There was no furniture in the room; only an eerie altar of some sort. On the altar lay something that both of them had been looking for all this time: the Necronomicon ex Mortus.

A single strip of blood red carpet led from where they stood to the steps of the altar, off-setting the shining white marble floor. Large, imposing statues lined both sides of the room, all of them clutching a deadly weapon of some sort. Deep red curtains shielded every window around the room with the exception of the window behind the altar. The curtains were drawn back, giving them both an eerie glimpse of the black, starless sky and the full, milky white moon.

Ash felt his skin crawl, and his stomach dropped. Something about this just didn't feel like.

The two slowly coursed up the blood red carpet, fearing that if they stepped onto the floor the ceiling would somehow cave in. Ash let his eyes float around the room; his keen sight focused on the creepy statues on both sides of them. The detail in the figures was so amazing. They were dressed like ancient monks; their dark robes gathering on the marble pedestals they stood on. The bony faces and skeletal hands almost made them look like...corpses.

Something in the back of his mind immediately snapped. His eyes widened in terror as Nitaliyah reached the altar and lifted the Book from its pedestal.

"DON'T TOUCH THE ---!" he screamed, lunging towards her.

But it was too late.

Another large crash rocked the sacred room, causing the lights of the chandelier to dim. Unearthly moans immediately pierced the air, and they both glanced over in horror to see the robed statues advancing towards them, their white eyes vacant with medieval hunger and their sharpened teeth brown with aged blood. Again, they flattened their backs together in the center of the circle of undead clerics tightening around them.

"Stop!" a voice from the shadows bellowed.

The statues moved away from Ash and Nitaliyah and quickly stood at attention, as if awaiting military inspection. Ash felt his jaw drop, and Nitaliyah felt her body grow weak with hatred and anger. They couldn't believe it. Dracula stood in the doorway of the room, a devilish smile corrupting his sadistically handsome features. What looked like an ugly midget stood at his side; the bony growth protruding from his back twitched as he moved.

"Take the girl." Dracula said simply.

The animated statues nodded once and obeyed their order. A few of the soldiers took Ash by the arms, letting his shotgun tumble to the floor. They tightened their grip as he began to fight them, nearly dislocating his shoulders in the process. The rest of the guards seized Nitaliyah, who kicked and bucked at her attackers. She screamed in rage and even attempted to bite them, but they still wouldn't let her go. Dracula smiled at her display and laughed.

"LET ME GO!" she shrieked wildly. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

"She's a fighter. Take her to my bedchambers." he muttered before turning around and walking out the chamber. Nitaliyah began to struggle even harder, kicking and flailing wildly. She screamed as they dragged her out the room through a secret door near the altar. Ash's eyes widened in horror, mostly out of the fact that this might be the last time he would see ever her alive.

"No! No...NITALIYAH!" Ash screamed angrily, his outburst met by a rifle butt to the back of his head. The searing impact was so powerful that it forced Ash to his knees and split his vision in two. Through teary eyes he could see Nitaliyah kicking her legs wildly and shouting curses while Dracula's laughter vibrated off the walls.

"LET HER GO, YOU BASTARD!" he yelled, hateful eyes focused towards Vladimir. Dracula scowled once more and nodded to the guards.

"Kill him."

Without warning, another devastating blow landed in the back of the man's skull, pummeling him into the floor. His feverish cheek rested against the cool marble of the floor, and the sour yet familiarly sweet taste of warm blood polluted his mouth and trickled past his lips, gathering around him in a small pool. The large room began to spin, flash, and darken at the same time, bringing along with it a collage of impressive shapes and colors that he had never seen before.

Before the world slowly faded into darkness, the last thing Ash heard was Nitaliyah tearfully screaming his name.


	33. My Fair Frankenstein

Gabriel gritted his teeth hard enough to draw blood as he ran up the spiraling staircase, his face burning with anger and sheer hatred coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe that scoundrel Vladimir. If it was possible, Gabriel hated the son of a bitch now more than ever. It sickened Gabriel to know that for a minute he had tricked himself into thinking that Sophia was still alive; that there was ever some shred of hope that they would be able to be happy together and resume the normal life they once shared. He snorted and scowled even harder, trying his best to fight the stinging tears. His efforts failed.

The old man chewed his lower lip and dashed down the dimly-lit corridor, his hand still tightly gripping the hilt of his sword. The bright fire blazing from the torches embedded in the brick walls flickered violently as he zoomed past, toward a large gilded door at the end of the hallway. Gabriel stopped within a few feet of the door, studying it carefully. He pressed his ear against the door and cocked his eyebrow in suspicion. He heard nothing but silence...silence and a faint moaning sound. His eyes widened, and he instinctively drew his sword before carefully twisting the knob and opening the heavy iron door.

The rotten odor of decomposing flesh quickly filled the air, so quickly that it didn't allow Gabriel enough time to breathe. He found himself gagging severely; his eyes stinging and watering as the revolting stench forced its way down his throat. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, in an attempt to quell the nausea tugging at his stomach. Over the years, Gabriel had grown accustomed to the smell, and on some occasions, even enjoyed it, but now it was simply too overpowering. As he blinked back the tears and struggled to fully stand upright, Gabriel let his eyes zoom round the room and nearly gasped in horror.

There were corpses...everywhere. Dead bodies in various stages of decomposition decorated the room from top to bottom. The bodies were completely _nailed_ tothe walls and ceiling, like some kind of macabre interior design. He looked around the room in awe. There were bodies of men, women, even young children; it didn't seem like Dracula had a discriminatory taste. The flesh from the rotting limbs slid from the severed appendages and fell to the floor, landing at Gabriel's feet in a greasy, pungent mass. He grimaced and sheathed his sword, still coursing through the room. It struck him as odd when he realized a large electrical machine pushed against one of the walls, and what looked like a primitive operating table hooked up to the machine. It also seemed strange that a majority of the corpses were missing body parts.

"God help me." Gabriel muttered under his breath.

He crossed himself and turned his head as he walked farther into the room, crushing many bones, posibly human. On the wall before him was a disturbing display. Two adult corpses stood side by side, with a dead child standing in the center. The child's eyelids had completely rotted away; its haunting green eyes stared out into the darkness of the room; it's mouth open in an expression of sheer horror. The skeletal hands were of the child were joined with the adults', and Gabriel looked up to see that the child's body was encased in a large wooden door. There was no doorknob or keyhole. Engraved around both sides of the child's skeletal legs were thin sieves that led out of the orb and onto the floor. In the center of the child's ribcage was a small, solid glass ball, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He touched the glass orb, and yanked his hand back quickly as the ball's transparent, icy surface nearly froze his fingers. He had heard the guards speak of these devices. This was a blood lock; an evil device that could only be activated by the blood of a demon. At this point, Gabriel knew there had to be some sordid catch.

Gabriel heard the machine short circuit, and he saw tiny sparks flicker in one corner of the room. In a matter of seconds, thin, blue streaks of electricity surged through the dungeon, and a loud roar erupted from the darkness. Gabriel turned around to see a large, foul-smelling creature standing near the entrance, its mouth open wide to reveal a cache of sharp, bloodstained teeth. The creature seemed to be horribly disfigured; assembled from the many missing body parts from the corpses Gabriel had seen earlier. The organs and limbs were poorly stitched together, and its skin was pale as snow; a stomach-churning collage of deep purples, sickeneing yellows, and infectious green colors marred its poorly assembled body. The creature's head was connected to its body by a crude line of stitches at the base of its neck, and the top of its skull was clearly visible through its torn skin. The strange metallic bolts emerging from its temples made it apparent that the creature had been brought to life by the mysterious flash of electricity. Many people had the grave misfortune to venture into the dungeon, only to unwittingly awaken a monster and be ruthlessly slaughtered before being added to the sickening decorum of the dungeon.

Gabriel took a deep breath and unsheathed his sword before rushing in the creature's direction. Before he could strike a blow, the creature's arm thrust outwards, knocking Gabriel into the wall. He landed hard on his side, and after he hit the floor he was pretty sure he fractured a couple ribs. He slowly pulled himself from the floor and quickly lunged at the beast again, exerting all his strength in his legs. As the creature's arm thrusted out a second time, Gabriel dodged the limb and leapt into the air, bringing his blade down on the creature's shoulder. The wounded creature roared in pain, while its dark blood gushed all over the floor. Despite its wound, the creature seemed unphased; its cold, black eyes burned bright red with rage, putting Gabriel in its murderous sights.

A second terrifying roar escaped the creature, and it charged full speed at Gabriel, not allowing the man time to plan his next manuver. The disfigured beast slammed into Gabriel full-force, painfully pinning him against the wall with its monstrous body. It would have surely crushed Gabriel had it not been for his arm and knee wedged between their bodies. As he struggled against the beast, Gabriel could feel its hot, rancid breath beating against his face, and the dagger-like teeth attempting to bite him. Gabriel gathered enough strength and kicked the demon away from him, sending it stumbling backwards. Before the creature could recouperae, Gabriel once again leapt into the air and brought the sword down on the demon's shoulder blade, slicing it completely in two. A third tragic roar erupted from the creature and it fell to its knees. Its blood was gushing from the wounds like water from a broken fountain, and the furious gleam in its dark eyes was now reduced to a pathetic expression that only begged to be put out of its misery. Gabriel honored the silent request and raised his sword high above his head and driving his it into the beast's skull lengthwise. He pulled the blade from the creature's head, letting fragments of its blood red brain spill out onto the floor. The creature's body began to spasm violently, and its dark blood quickly gathered into the seives in the floor.

Gabriel watched as the blood traveled through the drains and somehow trickled vertically _up_ the door, finally collecting inside the frozen glass orb. To his surprise, the crystal ball turned deep red, and the blood inside it began to boil. After a few seconds he heard a small click, and the large wooden door slowly creaked open. In the hallway beyond, he could hear unearthly moans echoing through the walls. Once again, Gabriel rushed ahead, ready to take on whatever Dracula was willing to throw at him.


	34. A Date With The Devil

"Oh...she's so pretty!"

"With the way she looks, you can't tell she's a van Helsing."

Nitaliyah slowly opened her eyes and was overcome by a light that hurt her eyes to the point that she had to squint to see. Her head was spinning in all directions, and nausea pounded into the pit of her stomach. The last thing she remembered was watching her father advance through the castle, heading into a basement cellar, finding the Necronomicon, and being taken away into a secret passage. She remembered screaming, and crying, and seeing Ashley lying face-down in a pool of his own blood. Her eyes widened, and the world painfully slid into focus. Ashley was dead, and her father would be lucky if he shared the same fate.

She flinched when she felt a cold hand gently stroke the side of her body.

"She's awake now." a hushed voice whispered.

Nitaliyah groaned once again and looked around the room, her eyes landing on the two shadowy figures leering over her. Two finely-dressed women, one a brunette and the other a redhead, stared down at her; their faces twisted in a strange mixture of excitement and curiosity. They were smiling, and their sharp fangs gave away the fact that these women were vampires. They were Vladimir's other two wives, Verona and Aleera. Nitaliyah instantly felt her blood boil.

As soon as she tried to rise from the bed, Nitaliyah felt something weighing her down. She looked up in horror when she saw that her wrists had been tied together to the headboard, and her ankles were held together with what seemed like an amazingly strong scarf. She screamed, despite the fact that a third scarf had been tied around her head and gagged her mouth, stifling her cries of rage. Nitaliyah was dressed in a simple knee-length nightdress, one similar to the kind she wore as a child. She glanced around the room only to see that her armor, clothes, and weapons were nowhere to be found. They had probably destroyed them by now. Aleera smiled and began to stroke Nitaliyah's bare leg.

"So _you_ are the one who killed our sister, yes?" she smiled rhetorically, leaning in closer to face her.

"I think you'll make a fine substitute."

Nitaliyah cringed when she felt Aleera's icy fingers gradually slide upwards, towards the area between her thighs. Salty tears stung the insides of her eyes, and Nitaliyah lifted her neck and powerfully headbutted Aleera, sending her stumbling backwards a bit. The vampiress screeched in anger and quickly withdrew a long dagger from the center of her pale pink corset, rushing over to the bed at lightning speed and pressing the cold steel against Nitaliyah's bare throat.

"You stupid little BITCH!" she hissed viciously. "I will have your head!"

Verona grinned smugly and gently grabbed Aleera's wrist, moving the dagger away from the trapped woman's throat.

"Now now, Aleera." Verona cooed, her blazing brown eyes focused on Nitaliyah.

"We shall have our fun much later."

Aleera nodded and grimaced as she sheathed her dagger, smirking evilly as she did.

"You're right." she said, staring lustfully at Nitaliyah. "We'll have our fun...after Vladimir is finished."

Nitaliyah gritted her teeth and screamed through the gag, struggling against her bounds. She hated them with a passion. She hated vampires and every malicious deed they stood for. She especially hated Vladimir Dracula, now more than ever. That bastard took her mother from her. He tortured and imprisoned her father. She especially remembered what he had done to her poor Ashley....

Nitaliyah closed her eyes and bit her lower lip. She turned her head to the side and held back her tears, trying not to cry in front of her captors. As hard as she tried, Nitaliyah felt a lone tear stream down her noticed her struggling and gently patted her head, and began to run her bony fingers through her hair. Above the sweet scent of the woman's perfume, Nitaliyah could detect the sour odor of dried blood. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tighter.

"There there, my pretty." the brunette cooed gently. "It'll all be over soon."

Aleera smiled evilly and nodded in agreement, gently stroking Nitaliyah's forehead. The redhead grabbed Nitaliyah's chin and jerked her head to the side so that she was facing her.

"Yes, darling." she smiled, her sharp teeth glistening in the dim candelight of the bedchamber.

"It will all be over soon."

The door slowly crept open, and all three women turned their attention to the shadowy figure standing in the large doorway. Nitaliyah's heart leapt into her throat. For the moment, she expected the shadow to belong to her vengeful, sword-weilding father. She hoped that her father would walk into the room and kill both Verona and Aleera, severing their screaming heads from their wretched bodies. But her hopeful thoughts were all dashed. Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach when she saw Vladimir Dracula step through the threshold, that forever sadistic smile etched onto his face. He was shirtless, dressed in a pair of black satin sleeping trousers. His shoulder-length obsidian hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, and his deep golden eyes sparkled with a mixture of amusement and unbridled lust as he stared at Nitaliyah. Her initial ray of hope had turned into searing rage and intense hatred in a matter of seconds, and Nitaliyah began to struggle against her bonds violently, bruising her wrists and ankles in the process. He cracked a licentious smile at her pathetic attempts at freedom.

"Good evening, my lovelies." he grinned, gesturing to Aleera and Verona. The two women giggled and rose to greet their husband, taking turns passionately kissing him. Nitaliyah couldn't help but be horribly sickened by the display. Vladimir separated from his wives and smiled.

"You have done well, my dears." he smiled, gently stroking their faces. They giggled more, and Nitaliyah felt her stomach churn. They were nothing more to him than mere puppets. He turned towards the bed and stared at Nitaliyah, lustfully undressing the woman with his eyes.

"Now leave us. Your sister will join you shortly."

Nitaliyah watched as Verona and Aleera bowed to their husband and quietly exited the bedroom, loudly slamming the gilded door behind them. _Your siste_r? The hairs on the back of Nitaliyah's neck stood on end. What did he mean by that? She was a van Helsing; she had no affiliation with these bloodsucking freaks, genetic or otherwise. She watched with hateful eyes as Vladimir moved closer to her, moved back the canopy shrouding the bed, and sat down beside her. He seemed to admire her body, licking his lips as he studied her semi-nude frame.

"Such a fine creature." Vladimir cooed gently.

Nitaliyah cringed as he bent down and inhaled deeply, taking in her natural, sweet scent. She stared across the room at the decorative swords lined on the on the wall. She began to think of ways she could hurt him, kill him; violently slice him from end to end like he had done to her poor mother so long ago. Nitaliyah lunged her body upwards and began to to struggle within her bonds even harder, trying to break free in order to exact the revenge she so richly longed for. She quirmed away from his touch when he pulled the sash down from around Nitaliyah's mouth. He smiled and stroked her face gently, his eyes blazing.

"You are gorgeous, Lucasta." he whispered. "You have finally come back to me. You will be my queen and rule by my side, just as we had so long ago."

Nitaliyah's eyes widened as she heard him say those words. It was the exact same thing she had heard so long ago in her dreams when she was a girl. His voice was raspy, he was holding her tightly, and the smell of incense combined with burned rosewood filled the air. In her mind, it all came together. Her mother had known the horrible secret all along, but her father forbade it; he refused to believe or even speak of it. Now she knew the reason why. In her past life hundreds of years ago, Nitaliyah was Lucasta Tepes, Dracula's first wife.

Vladimir smiled when he saw the tender maiden's beautiful green eyes darken into a vicious bright red. Her face was twisted into a fierce scowl, one that gave him a peek into her passionate, warrior-like soul. The sweet yet subtle scent of her suggested that the girl had never been intimate, and the thought sparked an insatiable lust that he had only felt a handful of times before. He couldn't wait to have her. Nitaliyah screamed violently and spit on him.

"I WILL NEVER BELONG TO YOU!" she shrieked furiously, her voice tight with rage.

"MAY GOD STRIKE YOU DEAD WHERE YOU STAND!"

Vladimir smiled handsomely and wiped the saliva from his face. He seemed to see the disrespectful act as a joke for the moment. In the space of a second, his eyes grew jet-black, and an evil scowl corrupted his facial features. He pulled his hand back and painfully slapped Nitaliyah across her face, so hard that she heard her ears ring. Vladimir then grabbed a fistful of Nitaliyah's hair and forced her head back, with so much power that she heard a few bones in her neck snap.

"You always were quite the fighter." he whispered lustfully, climbing on top of her.

"Just like that meddlesome father of yours. And that irritating rogue Ashley Williams."

Nitaliyah screamed and bucked at him in an attempt to get him off her. Tears of undiluted rage and sadness streamed from her eyes as she thought of her father locked in a cell somewhere, and Ashley's lifeless, cold body being tossed into the river like common garbage. She didn't even have the chance to tell him how much she loved him.

"YOU KILLED HIM!" she cried tearfully. "I'LL SEE YOU BURN IN HELL!"

Vladimir chuckled to himself and gently stroked Nitaliyah's face with his free hand, lovingly staring into her beautiful green eyes.

"Hush, hush, my dear." he whispered. "They're out of the way now. I see the same thing in you as I saw in my Lucasta so long ago, and you will become my queen. We shall rule together, as one. You will be mine."

"NEVER!" She screamed, struggling against her bonds as he pressed his hard, muscular body against hers. "I WOULD RATHER BE A SERVANT OF GOD THAN THE RIGHT HAND OF LUCIFER! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME, YOU BASTARD!"

Vladimir chuckled to himself and began to nuzzle the side of her neck. He lifted his head to face her, his eyes a deep crimson. His expression had turned into one of pure seriousness; almost like a maniac.

"You sound exactly like your father, Nitaliyah." he hissed viciously. "I know you hid in the cellar during my little visit so long ago. I know you sat there in painful silence, seeing your father fight like a coward, hearing your mother moan like a common whore while my men ravaged her. I _knew_ you were there; I just had to wait long enough for you to come back to me."

Nitaliyah stared up at him with searing hatred in her eyes, a deep rage burning inside her as he recalled the brutal execution of her mother. She began to remember biting her fist hard to keep herself from crying, and watching her mother's dark red blood drip through the splits in the floorboards. She remembered her father's heart-wrenching cries.

"My father is no coward, and my mother was no whore." Nitaliyah muttered between clenched teeth, her anger towards him preventing her voice from being any louder. She stared right in his eyes, her bright green eyes boring holes into the civilized beast she was trapped underneath.

"Mark my words Dracul, my father will destroy you or die trying."

Once again, he laughed and ran his fingers through her wavy, dark hair.

"I anticipate the day, my darling." he whispered thickly. "But now I must make you mine."

He separated from Nitaliyah and opened his mouth, revealing a pair of neat, white fangs protruding from his upper jaw. She cried out in unbearable pain when she felt his sharp teeth slice into the side of her neck, hard enough to draw blood. He violently sucked the blood from her, firmly holding the woman in place as the life slowly drained from her beautiful body. She could feel his hands groping her nude body under her sheer nightgown, and his fingers tracing along the insides of her thighs and down to her feet, undoing the thick cord binding her ankles together. She tried to move her legs and kick at him, but she was too weak from the loss of blood.

The room grew dim and split in two, and Nitaliyah saw her life flash before her eyes. She saw herself as a child, playing in the village surrounding her family's castle. She saw herself hugging her father, and smelling her mother's sweet lilac perfume. She saw herself hiding during the invasion. She saw herself being placed in a Russian orphanage, and running away back home to Romania. She saw herself being taught weapons skills by Father Nikolai, an aged, kindhearted cleric in the village who took her under his wing as his apprentice. She saw herself meeting Ashley for the first time, and traveling with him. Nitaliyah remembered his handsome face and his eyes; the deep, soulful brown eyes that she secretly wished to see in her children someday. She remembered his strong personality, his resourcefulness, and his amusing sense of humor. She saw herself watching him sleep, and curling up beside him late into the night when she was absolutely sure he was unconscious. A faint smile passed across her lips as she remembered laying her head on Ashley's chest and falling asleep to the calm rythym of his heartbeat. She saw herself fighting so many battles and coming so far, only to meet her end like this.

"I...will never...be...yours." she muttered hypnocogically, her tired eyes focused on the mirrored ceiling above her. She saw her body being taken by the pale-skinned beast. She felt one of his hands gripping her wrists, his fingernails digging into her skin hard enough to draw blood. She saw his large, muscular body smothering her, grinding against her...entering her. Nitaliyah shut her eyes tightly and clenched her teeth to combat the excruciating pain. She would never give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"God...help...me." Nitaliyah sobbed quietly.

Her eyelids continued to grow heavier, weighing down even more whenver she tried to fight the fatigue. Before she blacked out, all Nitaliyah heard was:

"_You will rule by my side and be my queen, Lucasta. You shall be mine for all eternity." _


	35. A Race Against Time

Gabriel took his time coursing through the darkened hallway, taking enough care to avoid being seen. With the exception of the dim light emanating from the torches at the end of the hallway, the place was virtually consumed with darkness. The mesh screens covering the large windows on his right allowed some light into the corridor, but not enough to the point that he could see clearly. Gabriel flattened his back against the wall and peered out the window and into the courtyard four stories below. He saw flames from the soldiers' torches, as well as a large group of sentries congregating in the courtyard.

"Damn!" he muttered under his breath, now realizing that he couldn't leave the tower the way he came. At this point, he had no other choice but to go forward.

Gabriel sucked in a deep breath and crouched down, carefully slinking under the window sills to avoid being seen by the many guards below him. He silently moved to the door end of the hallway and pressed his ear against it. All he could hear was faint moaning and breathing, but it wasn't like the monsters he had heard. It sounded almost like another person. As silently as he possibly could, Gabriel pushed open the large gilded door and rushed inside.

It was a huge circular room that looked like a single cell. The room was brighter than the hallway he had just been in, and Gabriel looked up to see that there was no ceiling. A large open grate covered the giant hole above him, leaving exposure to cold open air and the bright light of the full moon. Gabriel glanced around the room, and cursed himself when he realized that, besides the door he had just came through, there was no other entrance or exit to the dungeon.

The sound of painful groans coming from the other side of the room roused Gabriel from his escape plan, and out of habit, he instinctively withdrew his sword. Gabriel turned around to see what looked like a dead body chained to the wall, the person's arms chained out on both sides. He moved to take a closer look at the corpse, and almost lunged his blade forward when the corpse started to breathe. Gabriel looked upwards to see a blood-stained metal hand attached to the man's left forearm. He had seen the device before, and his eyes widened.

"Ashley!" he whispered, rattling the heavy chains in an attempt to free the half-dead man. Ashley's head hung lifelessly, and Gabriel held his head up to the moonlight. Surprisingly, the lack of bruises on his face suggested that man hadn't been beaten at all; Dracula's minions must have knocked the man unconscious and left him to slowly starve in the dungeon. Gabriel put two fingers to his neck and was relieved when he found a pulse.

"Ashley!" he repeated, slapping the man as hard as he could. Gabriel gritted his teeth and sliced through the thick chains, letting Ash fall to the floor, slumped against the wall. Gabriel knelt down to the man and gathered water from a small puddle and splashed it in Ash's face, then resumed slapping him.

"WAKE UP, PIG!" he angrily screamed at the top of his lungs.

Gabriel saw the man's eye twitch, and his head slowly raised. Ashley blinked twice, afterwards squinting to combat the bright light beaming from overhead.

"Nitaliyah..." he muttered weakly. "She...she's gone. He...took her."

Gabriel felt his heart skip a beat, and all the blood in his veins froze solid. His eyes widened, and a horrifying collage of images coursed through his mind. He grabbed Ash's collar and pulled the man closer to him, his eyes burning with rage.

"WHERE DID THEY TAKE HER?" he growled angrily, barely holding back his rage. Ash shook his head rapidly in an attempt to slide back into consciousness. He blinked back the involuntary tears, trying not to think about how he had watched Nitaliyah being dragged off against her will into the darkness, kicking and screaming. Before then, he had never actually seen Nitaliyah cry, and even the thought of her pretty face twisted in pain and horror did something to him. It made him feel guilty.

Despite her rough exterior, Nitaliyah was a brilliant, loyal, determined woman. She was even gentle and caring...when she wanted to be. That was one of the strange things he loved about her. She tried so hard to hide her naturally sweet, feminine side; almost to the point that it was kind of cute. He was perfectly aware that Nitaliyah would sneak into his room and crawl into bed with him at night, and in truth he didn't mind not one bit. He just pretended to be asleep, not wanting to alarm Nitaliyah while she lay next to him. She didn't deserve what happened to her. As much as she'd helped him out and as good as she had been to him all this time, Ash knew that he could've done more to help her.

"I...I don't know." Ash muttered, struggling to stand upright.

"They took her...through a door, behind some kind of altar. In...in the cellar. She touched the Book, and Dracula found us."

Gabriel gritted his teeth, and his left eye twitched. The old man's eyes had darkened to a devilish bright red and his expression had warped to something so horrifying that it made Ash cringe.

"DAMMIT!" Gabriel yelled, punching the dungeon wall in pure rage. He bit his lower lip and handed Ash his sword, then pulled his large pistol from his waistband. The man's eyes blazed with silent anger as he wordlessly turned around and walked towards the only exit of the dungeon.

"Follow me." Gabriel barked, glaring at Ash out the corner of his eye. "We don't have much time."

Ash nodded and followed the older man through the door, hell-bent on making Vladimir Dracula pay for what he had done.


	36. NEW CHAPTER: Child's Play

_"My God...this is my fault. I should've protected her."_

_"What if she's hurt...or worse?"_

These words haunted Ash's mind as they raced through the darkened corridor. He should've been stronger, at least for Nitaliyah's sake. A sudden thick nausea swept through his stomach. The sickness had the power to bring him to his knees; it was a miracle that he could stand, let alone run. He closed his eyes in a pathetic attempt to block out the reality of the situation.

_"It's just a dream." _he thought, clenching his eyes tighter as he felt tears stream down his face. _"This is all just a bad dream..."_

He tried blocking out the sounds of Nitaliyah's screaming, and the image of her desperately clawing at her decomposing captors. That was the first time he had ever seen fear in her eyes.

_"This is all just a bad dream. A shitty, truly fucked up dream."_

Upon opening his eyes, Ash expected to scream and bolt upright in his bed in his equally shitty apartment in Michigan. Not ninteenth-century Transylvania, being chased by an undead madman.

Ash's eyes flickered open, and to his dismay, he was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. This was all real. From the dank, musty air he breathed in to the dim torches illuminating the dungeon every twenty feet or so. As much as he hated to face it, this was reality. The sounds of screeching crows mingled with their hurried footsteps, creating a confused chorus of wet splashes, shrieks, and curses mostly growled between clenched teeth.

"FASTER, you degenerate piece of shit!" Gabriel barked.

Ash silently obeyed, and pushed his legs a fast as they would allow him. At this point, he didn't even have to look at the old man to know that he was pissed. Then again, what father in his right mind wouldn't be? His daughter had just been kidnapped by the same bloodthirsty murderer who had slaughtered most of his family.

The beads of sweat forming on the back of Ash's neck cooled as they came to a sudden stop. Before them was a heavy wooden door that stood in the middle of the corridor. The imposing door was worn, and its handle had rusted through. The faint smell of dried blood emanated from the slight crack in the door. Gabriel pressed his lips together tightly and looked back at Ash in a knowing glare. Ash took the unspoken hint, and both men felt their fingers clench around their weaons.

"I've been here before." Gabriel said, his mind retreating back to the incident with the creature and the soul orb that operated upon its death.

"If we travel through here, we can go back through the ballroom and down the grand staircase into the main foyer. From there, we'll go through the cellar."

Ash shook his head. Like every other plan that had been suggested since the three of them set foot in this God-forsaken place, this plan sounded simple. Too simple.

"I have a feeling that's gonna be easier said than done, Pops." he muttered, the nausea once again ripping through him.

With a brutal kick, Gabriel forced the door open. The faint traces of blood they smelled from the other side had now mutated into the full-blown stench of death. Ash looked around and was immediately sickened to his stomach. The dimly-lit room was decorated with corpses sewn together in a macabre pattern everywhere, from the walls to the ceiling. The bodies were well-preserved, as if fresh, but smelled as if they had been left to decompose in the hot sun for weeks. A greasy odor polluted the air in the large room, and though Ash and Gabriel thought themselves to be immune to this, it took all they could to keep themselves from vomiting. The one thing that caught Ash's gaze was the sight of a disfigured man, no, creature, lying in the center of the room. Dark blood oozed from every one of the monster's orifices and into weird drains built into the floor. He wanted to question Gabriel about it, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

Instinctively, Gabriel cupped his arm over the lower half of his face and began to look around. He spied a bright light across the room, and his eyes widened. It was an open door.

"THERE!" he yelled, grabbing Ash by the collar and pointing towards the open doorway. "There it is!"

Within a few seconds, both men were racing across the room, the bottoms of their shoes squishing and crunching the remnants of things they wouldn't care to identify. As the hot, foul air rushed into his face and stung the insides of his lungs, Ash began to think of Nitaliyah. He thought of all the trouble they had gone through. He thought of what kind of bargaining chip she was to Dracula, and how valuable she was in the process of getting old man van Helsing to read sacred passages of the Necronomicon. He also affirmed the possibility that there was no way in hell Dracula would make it this easy for them.

Turns out he was right.

Before they reached the doorway, both doors slammed shut. The tiny clicking noise that followed soonafter confirmed the fact that they were trapped. A thin creaking sound emanated from one side of the room, and both their heads turned to see a blinding bright red light. The soul orb fixed between the corpse child's ribs had taken an odd crimson color, and dark wisps of smoke violently swirled in the glass ball. The creaking sound resumed briefly, and a dull thud opened the child's skeletal jaw. After a few eerie seconds of silence, an ear-shattering scream escaped the child's mouth, nearly shaking the room in the process. Both men screamed and dropped to their knees, covering their ears in a pathetic attempt to block out the horrendous screams. This was definetly not good.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!" Gabriel bellowed, his voice taking on an even more enraged tone.

At the end of his question, the screaming suddenly ceased, and the eerie silence returned. The scarlet light had also gone out, bringing the room back to its usual dimness. As both men removed their hands from their ears, it became clear that some otherworldly force was fucking with them.

"_This, my dears_..." a female voice cooed through the darkness. "_is a game."_

Gabriel stood up at once and unsheathed his sword.

"Show yourself, coward!" he screamed maniacally. Gabriel felt his blood boiling with rage, and declined to think of what his daughter could've been goung through right about now.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" he repeated, tears of pure hatred seeping from the corners of his eyes.

Ash could feel his blood curdle, and as he rose to his feet, he could almost feel a cruel smile in the mysterious voice. A loud cackle rang out.

_"Very well then, boys..."_


	37. NEW CHAPTER: The Beast and The Harlot

A thin plume of dark purple smoke appeared out of nowhere and swirled around the room, finally landing nearly ten feet in front of Ash and Gabriel. After a few seconds, the smoke began to take form, transforming into a woman. The woman was stunning. Her blazing red hair trailed down to her waist, and her emerald green eyes flickered violently with lust. In addition to her looks, the woman's pale pink corset and skin-tight ankle length skirt left little to the imagination, hugging her curves and flattering her ample bust in ways that most men would think impossible. Desite the display, neither man was impressed.

"Aleera..." Gabriel sneered, tightening his grip on his sword. The woman lent a smirk and smiled, revealing a mouth full of yellow, bloodstained teeth.

"Gabriel," she chortled. "You clean up nicely. It's sweet of you to drop by for a visit-"

She paused to look Ashley up and down, then licked her lips. Once again, her eyes flickered with lust. They promised that she would do things that no woman had ever done to him before. Like rip his head off.

"-And bring a little snack along with you."

"Cut the shit, lady." Ash said, his eyes narrowing on the woman before him. "Just tell us where you took Nitaliyah. We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Gabriel's blood boiled even more when the vampire threw her head back and laughed, once again vibrating the room. Ash she pulled her head back to face them, her face had transformed from drop-dead gorgeous to absoloutely hideous. Her once brown eyes had no lids or pupils, and were now soulless, yellow orbs. Her cheeks were sunken in, and her full, sensuous lips had somehow deflated then shrank horrifically, bearing her long, discolored fangs. Both men had seen this before.

"You think I'm going to tell you?" she cackled demonically, lifting her arms and propelling herself into the air. Gabriel sighed and glared over at him.

"Haven't you learned anything from these bitches?" he muttered, shifting his gaze into the air while unsheathing his sword. "They never do things the easy way."

Another screeching cackle escaped the vampire demon, and she stretched her hands ot towards them, as if beckoning them to come forth.

"Of course we do, Gabriel". she said, shaking her still-human body lustfully."I'll offer you a deal. I'll tell you where your precious little girl is, provided that you survive a play-date with our...pet."

"Your pet? What the-?"

Before Gabriel could finish his sentence, the vampiress vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a shrieking cackle. The room jolted downward, knocking both men off balance. Their stomachs dropped as the earth beneath them began to tremble, and the room seemed to move. Ashley had felt this before.

"Holy shit..." he said, cocking his shotgun."This place is an elevator."

After a few tense seconds, the room came to a slow halt, and before the men could rise to their feet, a loud roar tore through the chamber. A door on the far side of the room flew open, and heavy footsteps plodded towards them. They both stared up in disbelief.

It stood on two legs. The thing was at least ten feet tall, and its weight was mostly muscle. The creature's body was predominantly covered in hair, and was nude, except for a crude pair of cloth breeches and what looked like a broken collar hanging loosely around its neck. What struck them as the oddest was the creature's face. Its ears stood out on both sides of the creature's head, and were pressed against its skull. Its nose was elongated, almost snout-like...as if it was a dog of some kind. The creature's dark lips were drawn back into a ferocious snarl, and there was no mistaking the murder lurking in its blazing golden eyes. This was the type of thing Ash had only read about.

The door slammed shut as quickly as it opened, and the werewolf glanced back confused. It soon turned its rage back on Ash and Gabriel. The creature's jaws opened, and within seconds, a beastly howl escaped the beast, filling the room with a howl neither man had never witnessed.

Within an instant, both men rushed towards the wild beast, both their weapons drawn. Unsurprisingly, the creature saw through their tactic. With one powerful swoop, the creature's left paw slammed into Ash, sending him colliding against the wall and onto the floor. Ash groaned and rolled over, pretty sure something inside him was bleeding. The impact was so severe he wasn't sure whose bones were broken; his own or the corpse he had crashed into.

"I guess that didn't work too well..." he groaned, gripping his possibly broken.

"Gee, you THINK?"

Ash looked up through bleary eyes to see Gabriel trapped in the beast's grip, struggling to free himself.

"Ashley, my sword!" the older man grunted, gesturing to the weapon laying on the floor.

As Gabriel was neared toward the hideous monster's mouth, he couldn't help but notice the familiar stench of rotting meat, as well as the large chunks of flesh and bone matted into its dirty, unkempt hair. Judging by the fact that some of the particles had aged, the beast had been here for quite some time. Even though he was trying his best to escape, the monster gripped him even harder each time he struggled. Gabriel gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as he heard his bones crack under the beast's crushing strength.

Ash slid across the room and grabbed the large sword. His eyes searched for a good target, and within seconds, he found one. With van Helsing's sword grasped firmly in hand, Ash rushed towards the beast's leg, driving the blade into the wolf's muscle tendon. For effect, Ash twisted the hilt and brutally jerked the blade outwards, sending blood and tissue spilling onto the floor.

A sudden painful yelp jolted Gabriel's eyes open. Before he knew it, he was on the ground on all fours; stinging air surging into his lungs. The blood rushing to his head caused the world to spin, and for a minute, he was disoriented. As reality finally slid into focus, he saw the creature's back turned to him; Ashley was standing in front of it, taunting it with his shotgun. It was a miracle he hadn't been torn to shreds yet.

"Come get some, Cujo!" Ash laughed maniacally, trying his best to stave off the giant creature.

As much as he wanted to pull the trigger, in the half of a second it would have took him to aim and shoot, there was the possibility of being ripped in half. An idea formed in his mind, and he grinned.

Ash held his breath and pulled the trigger, missing the creature, but sending it stumbling into the center of the room in shock. By now, the thing was howling and gripping its ears; he could even see blood spurting through its fingers. After stumbling a few steps, the beast collapsed onto the floor, kneeling and howling. Apparently, canines didn't respond well when someone set off a firearm within close range. While the beast was stunned, Ash threw the older man his sword and nodded.

"NOW! While it's down!"

Gabriel didn't need any more instruction. Building up speed, the forty-something leaped into the air and landed on the beast's hide, driving it square into the monster's back. Another piercing screech escaped the creature; this one more out of agony than rage. As Gabriel felt the life draining from his victim, he drove his blade in deeper and deeper, just to make sure. Thick spurts of blood flew from the beast's body, further staining its fur.

The injured animal howled once more and tried to rid itself of Gabriel's weight, bucking against the older man like an enraged bull. After a few seconds, Gabriel let go of the sword's hilt and was thrown off its back, hitting the floor with a hard thud. For a few seconds he seemed in a daze; it took him seconds to register the fact that a few bones had been broken. Stars began to flash before his eyes, and through involuntary tears, Gabriel saw the monster stalking towards him. Its snarl had grown even more ferocious, and the intensity in its eyes had become more determined. The old man knew that the beast was hell-bent on not only killing him, but making him suffer in the process.

Another ear-piercing shot rang out from behind the beast, and before Gabriel could react, dark chunks of brain matter and skull fragments coated the floor before him. The old man looked up to see that the creature had been shot in the head. Half its skull had been obliterated, but the creature still moved around drunkenly before settling inches away from Gabriel. A final weak yelp escaped the creatue's lips as its body began to convulse, and thick wisps of smoke poured from its wounds. It began to sound like an injured puppy, to the point that Gabriel almost began to feel sorry for it. The cries ceased and the animal's body began to disintegrate; its body transforming from muscle and bone to solid ash within seconds.

Ashley glanced around the room and he loaded another shell into the barrel. Silver bullets...she'd made them especially for him. He smiled to himself, then glanced over at Gabriel. The old man gave him a grateful nod before rising to his feet and pulling his sword from the pile of dust.

"Where is my daughter?" he growled, raising the weapon.

"We played your game. NOW WHERE IS SHE?"

At that moment, the room came to a screeching halt. A door ahead of them had swung open powerfully, emitting a powerful glow into the room. Beyond the threshold lay a well-lit hallway, much like the one they had traveled through to reach the cellar. Once again, wisps of smoke began to swirl around the room, followed by an unearthly cackle they had heard before. Both their heads turned to see Aleera's figure reappear behind them. Her face was human once again, and twisted into a ferocious grin. She laughed and clapped her hands joyously.

"Congratulations, boys." she chuckled. "I have to say...your performance was most impressive."

In an instant, Ash felt his heart drop, and his neck burn red-hot. As the seconds passed, the past few days flitted through his mind in rapid succession; from the time of the invasion, the vortex, being trapped here, the pain in Nitaliyah's beautiful eyes...

_A shitty, truly fucked up dream..._

Ash roared and rushed into the vampiress, giving her absolutely no time to react. He firmly gripped her throat with his iron gauntlet, so hard that blood trickled onto her collarbone. His eyes grew dark with rage, and every part of his body was surging with hatred.

"I'm going to ask you politely..." he growled, tightening his grip with each word. "Where...is she?"

The vampiress chuckled, spitting blood at him as she did. She narrowed her eyes on his; Ash could tell this bitch knew something he didn't.

"Why would I tell you, stupid mortal?" she sneered, laughing. "You have no idea how important tonight is to us and our kind."

Ash gritted his teeth and yelled in frustration, releasing his grip on the woman. She sank to the floor, still laughing. Anger surging through his veins, Ash paced over to Gabriel. Despite the old man's objections, he grabbed the sword and turned back towards the wounded female lying before him. With a fiendish grip, Ash grabbed her by her throat once again, this time holding the blade close to her cheek. He could see tiny wisps of smoke rise as the pure silver blade touched her skin.

"One more time..." he whispered thickly, his voice coated with venom. "Where...is...Nitaliyah?"

Another low chuckle escaped the undead bitch, and blood began to trickle from the sides of her mouth.

"It doesn't matter." she whispered back. "Your pretty little whore is one of us now."

His eyes immediately widened, and a slew of disturbing thoughts flitted through his mind, each one worse than the last. Ashley wasn't the most religious man on the planet, but right now, he prayed to God that this wasn't true. Without a word, he shook his head and stared into her soulless green eyes.

"You didn't..." he growled, his eyebrows furrowing. Ash's blood ran cold as she laughed dryly.

"I didn't, but Vladimir did." she sneered, her eyes burning bright red. "Our prince turned that girl into a woman; he made your peasant our queen. I stood outside the chamber door when he broke her maidenhead. Her screams were almost as sweet as her virgin blood."

Another toothy grin passed across her face, and she began to laugh even more. Ash could feel his blood rushing through his veins at top-speed. His mind continually flitted to images of Nitaliyah; how she'd helped him, how she guided him. She needed him the most, and where was he? Unconscious, in chains, and running in circles. At this point, Ash decided that he was almost as useless as the woman locked in his grip. He shook his head rapidly, his gauntlet coiling around her neck. This wasn't true...it just wasn't true. Nitaliyah was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to survive all this. She was supposed to get married, have kids, and grow old...hopefully with him.

After a few seconds of painful silence, something in his mind snapped.

"LYING BITCH!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, drawing his free hand back and weilding the sword like a butcher's knife.

In a fit of undescribable rage and impressive strength, he aimed the blade at her face. She was still laughing when Ashley drove the blade between the vampire's lips, impaling her through her mouth and deeply piercing the wall behind her. Her teeth exploded on impact, sending chunks of bloody yellow enamel crashing to the floor. A sickening gurgle wormed its way out of her windpipe as blood gushed from her throat and trailed down the front of her dress in violent black torrents. Though she had died instantly, her eyes still zoomed around the room unblinking. Ash watched as her flesh burned away to reveal her skeleton, which soon crumbled away. After a few seconds, only a crumpled pink dress lie on the dungeon floor. He gripped the hilt of the sword and powerfully pulled the sword from the stone wall.

"What did she say? Anything important?"

As he turned to face Gabriel, all he could feel was cold numbness all over his body. The only feeling he had was in the pit of his chest, which was surging with a white-hot hatred he had only felt a handful of times before. Ashley knew that the old man loved Nitaliyah far more than he did. She was his little girl; the only thing that most likely kept him anchored to sanity. Hell, he hadn't seen her since she was a kid and had been reunited with her just hours ago. What the hell was Ash supposed to say?

Ash wordlessly handed Gabriel the sword and walked a few feet past him. His stomach flipped violently, and it took all he had to keep himself from crying. With his back turned to Gabriel , he bit his lower lip and shook his head. Ash closed his eyes and took a silent breath.

"We have to keep moving." he murmured, heading towards the open doorway.


	38. NEW CHAPTER: Death Before Dishonor

_"Wow...it's amazing how good of a condition she's in."_

_"I agree. Usually, they're always dead and mangled once he's finished. This one hasn't a scratch on her."_

The garbled conversation of the chambermaids were enough to rouse her back into consciousness. Their brief intrusion was silenced by footsteps traveling across the room and the gentle creaking of a closing door. Nitaliyah painfully opened her eyes and let them zoom around the room. This place was familiar. As light slowly became brighter, she began to hope it was all a bad dream. On a small vanity table across from where she lay, fresh clothes lay neatly folded, along with beautiful jewels and perfume bottles. She hoped she was back in bed at home.

Her hope was in vain.

As she slowly sat up, a harsh pain stabbed at the area between her thighs, so severe that she cried out in pain. Nitaliyah looked down and screamed. The bedsheets were disarrayed and damp with blood. Another scream erupted from her, and she pushed the soiled linens away from her. She painfully pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face into her hands. A host of disturbing memories passed through her mind, and after a few seconds, the usually strong Nitaliyah broke down and began to sob uncontrollably.

She remembered him telling her lies about her mother and father. She remembered him slapping her, and laughing at her. Most of all, she remembered crying as he penetrated her for the first time, and the terrible things he said...

_"You are as tender and sumptuous now as you were then, my little flower." _

_"I must say, you are far more superior to the others."_

_"You are mine...forever."_

She remembered crying even more, and begging him to kill her. She remembered feeling him viciously digging inside her, at the same time running his fingers through her hair and constantly telling her how much he loved her.

Nitaliyah hugged her torso and began to cry even harder. The hideous shame washed over her body like a cold shower. She felt so used...lower than dirt. To have this man, no, this beast, take her virginity without her consent was nothing short of blasphemy. Her years of training and expansive knowlege of combat were worthless in the few hours it took for him to ravage her. Nitaliyah always thought she could prevent something like this from happening. She should have fought back, fought harder.

Through her tears, she began to think of her father, and how he would react to this. She wouldn't be able to face him. He would probably be disappointed and ashamed of her; enraged more at the fact that she allowed herself to be so helpless, so weak, so...un-Van Helsing. He would curse her name to hell and disown her. Her father would be so disgusted that he would accuse her of enjoying it, even insinuating that she had seduced the bastard Dracul. In Nitaliyah's mind, she was a whore. She was no better than the women who stood in the streets, peddling their licentious wares to any man in sight. As a child, she had been told that these kinds of women were destined for an eternity in the deepest pits of hell...and now she was one of them. This was the worst sin a woman of her station could commit, with her father's worse enemy no less.

Her fingers unconsciously drifted to her sore neck. Two tiny pinkpricks were nestled beneath her ear. Nitaliyah felt her eyes widen in terror, and a freezing cold weat broke out all over her body. She had been bitten.

Ignoring the pain, Nitaliyah slid off the bed and shakily limped to the vanity table. She leaned over the bale and craned her head to the side, further inspecting her wounds. The barely noticeable pinpricks she had felt earier were actually sores the size of rice grains. A warm substance oozed from the bitemarks, burning the rest of her skin. Tears welled in her eyes as she knew what this meant. She was infected, and it was only a matter of time_._

A heaving feeling pulsated through Nitaliyah's chest, and she collapsed to the floor, once again sobbing. First her family, her friends, her virtue...and now this. He had taken everything that had ever mattered to her, and now she was cursed to be with him for the rest of eternity. She would live forever, only to watch anything and anyone she loved grow old and die. She would be forced to rule a kingdom populated with beings she had dedicated her life to destroying. She would reluctantly abandon her faith and be the queen of a lawless empire; one that thrived on the very vices that she abhorred. She would be repeatedly be forced to share his bed.

_Unless..._

The broken woman looked up through her rage-filled tears and spied a small dagger lying on the dresser. She remembered that it belonged to Aleera, and she had threatened to cut Nitaliyah's throat with it. Her eyes then roamed out of one of the large windows . Three-fourths of the moon was covered in a deep red film, and was slowly being covered in it. She knew that she would fully turn by dawn, and for the time being, she was still human.

Nitaliyah crawled to the side of the dresser and grabbed the knife. She slowly pulled herself back in front of the window, where a flood of odd red moonlight let itself into the spacious room. In the dagger's highly shining grey blade, she saw her reflection.

Her hair was strewn about her slightly bruised face, and her eyes were empty and bloodshot. Before this, every morning she saw wisdom and strength in her eyes; now there was nothing but sadness and confusion. Even though she wasn't thinking clearly, even she could see that this was the woman, no-thing, she had been reduced to. Nitaliyah saw a once proud woman and fierce warrior stripped of her honor by the man she hated the most. She had to end the twisted prophesy once and for all. Nitaliyah closed her eyes tightly and held the blade perpendicular to her wrist.

Her body would no longer be his temple.


	39. NEW CHAPTER: In the Shadow of Death

For a while, neither man spoke. There was no real need to. The voracious poundings of their feet against the highly polished marble floor replaced what could have been their voices, or at least the old man's voice practically screeching at him to run faster. As they rushed through the corridor, the world seemed to swirl around them. After a while, the beautiful tapestries adorning the walls, the shining golden mounted lanterns, and the dark red velvet drapes tastefully drawn back from the windows blended together into an atrocious orgy of colors against the stark white walls. He began to feel slightly dizzy. Another deep sickening feeling gripped the inside of Ash's stomach, and Aleera's twisted words constantly played back in his mind. A sick, unintended chuckle escaped him. It wasn't the humorous type of laugh, but the kind that was slightly ironic.

Maybe Aleera was lying. It would make sense, seeing as how vampires were agents of Satan, one of the biggest liars known to mankind. Maybe Nitaliyah hadn't been bitten or hurt. Maybe she was just sitting in a dungeon somewhere relatively safe. A little roughed up, but relatively safe. Ash had to keep telling himself this. He just had to.

They were halted by a large solid gold door at the end of the corridor. Inscribed in the door was the image of a dragon surrounded by a lake of fire. The dragon stood on an altar, surrounded by what looked like humans. Clutched in the demon's fist was a naked figure with long, flowing hair-a woman. A large keyhole was drilled into the space where the woman's stomach would've been. This might have been something straight out of a how-to guide for Satanism. Both men were immediately convinced that they were in the right place. Ash shuddered unconsciously, blocking out a series of disturbing thoughts.

He tried to push the doors open, but nothing happened.

"Damn things are locked." he growled. "Shit!"

The sound of thundering footsteps racing towards them was enough to rouse Ash and Gabriel out of their respective stupors. They looked up to see three large guards charging in their direction at full speed, their weapons drawn. The group was led by a huge creature dressed in what looked like a war tunic around its waist. The front of the dirty garment the head demon wore was smeared with what looked like dried blood, and a crude garland hung around its neck, a human skull serving as a medallion. The other two were far behind, dressed in dirty armor and rags. One creature had plate-mail armor and a helmet, while the other was hidden behind a large spiked shield. Neither man had to strain hard to know that despite the ogres' hideous, devastatingly masculine appearance, their voices were oddly high-pitched, like that of women. These must have been the hand maidens, their original unparalleled beauty cursed to horrific disfigurement. This was done by malicious hands to prevent competition for the master's affections. Ash felt the old man's eyes fall to him briefly, and he returned the gaze. Both men nodded.

Gabriel let out an unintelligible Russian war cry and ran towards the group of ogresses, his prospective son-in-law at his side. The old man made the first strike, hitting the creature straight in its abdomen. For a moment it seemed unfazed by the blow, clumsily stumbling backwards. Infuriated, the ogress roared and charged full speed.

Ash silently counted to three and instinctively pulled the trigger.

A harsh feminine yelp shook the great hall followed by the muffled thump of bare knees hitting the floor. Dark red blood pooled around the creature from where its intestines were spilled to the once-spotless marble. If one looked close enough, you could almost see the steam rising from the entrails and smell the slow stench of death stinging the air. The body slumped over at an odd angle, its blank eyes staring aimlessly at the golden door. Gabriel wordlessly snatched the shotgun from Ash's hand. With a brutal forward motion, the old man kicked the corpse on its back and began to rummage to body. He grabbed a solid object and threw it to Ash.

"It's a key." he said over the sound of the approaching voices. Gabriel jerked his head back toward the door. "Go through there and look for her. I'll send these bastards back into the hole they crawled out of. I'll be right behind you."

Ash shook his head, in shock at the old man's suggestion. Sure, there was no question that van Helsing wasn't a badass, but this was simply impossible.

"I can't leave you here. This is suici-"

"THIS IS NOT A NEGOTIATION!" Gabriel bellowed after rising to his feet. Staring out at the horde, the old man expertly cocked the shotgun with one hand and gripped the hilt of his sword with the other.

"Either they die...or you do." the old man snarled, turning to Ash with clenched teeth. There was a certain deadly gleam violently dancing in his eyes. "Now go."

Ash nodded once and rushed to the door behind them, practically jamming the key into the lock. The muscles in his arms screamed in agony as he shoved his weight against the door and slowly unlocked it. Apparently, mortals weren't meant to unlock doors like these. Thinking quickly, Ash wedged his arm in the space between the large doors and slid through with not much difficulty, save for his shirt being snagged when the doors abruptly closed. A loud click echoed around the room as the doors joined back together.

His eyes scanned around the spacious room. Through the darkness, he could see that he stood in a sort of vestibule, and it was decorated with dragon motifs and large paintings of Dracul and each of his wives. Fitting for the long-dead Transylvanian prince. Expensive furniture decorated the vestibule. The thick layer of dust caked on their surface told that good ol' Vlad rarely had visitors, and if he did, they either didn't stay long or didn't live to tell about it.

Beyond the vestibule lay a larger circular room. Large rectangular windows lined the wall; their velvet red curtains were pulled aside to accommodate the disturbing crimson moonlight. Like the foyer, it was tastefully decorated and adorned with elaborate furnishings, including a huge ornate bed in the center of the room, backed against the wall. His eyes stopped, then widened. At the foot of the large bed fifty feet away from him, he saw a small body lying in the middle of the floor.

With blinding speed, Ash covered the distance. The whole time he was silently praying.

_God, no…._

In the millisecond it took to reach her, Ash couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. He couldn't even bring himself to say anything. The shock numbing his body didn't allow him to. He thought she was dead. She lay motionless in the center of the room, blood trailing from the thick gashes carved into her wrists into a large puddle on the floor. The knee-length dress she wore was torn and stained with blood, and he could see the dark handprints splayed on the insides of her thighs. His stomach flipped.

Aleera was right.

Ash fell to his knees and took Nitaliyah into his arms, gently cradling her body against his. He was relieved to feel a faint heartbeat. Her eyes slowly opened, and shone with a beauty he had never seen before. Rays of red light flickered on her face and in her eyes. The rainbow sparks of light somewhat made up for the life that was slowly being drained from her.

"Ashley...you're alive." she muttered. "I thought they-"

Ash chuckled dryly and smiled, holding back tears. In all his years, he had never felt so close to another person. As much as he hated to admit it, there was a void somewhere inside him; one he filled temporarily with drugs, drinking, meaningless sex, and pathetic attempts at relationships. This void was only filled when she was around. The world was only fit to live in when Nitaliyah was there to offer a strong word, or deliver the occasional slap in the face. Now, as she lay in his arms bleeding to death, he felt his wholeness, his safe world, crashing to the ground. Part of him was slowly crumbling too, and it took Ash all he could to not lose his nerve. Not now. He had to stay strong, at least for Nitaliyah's sake. He'd be damned if the last thing she saw was him crying.

But he was watching her die, and goddamn did it hurt.

"No, they didn't." he said, smoothing strands of hair from her face. "I'd never let them kill me."

His smiled widened as she chuckled a bit. Nitaliyah paused and looked down at herself, and he could see tears forming in her eyes. Her eyes trailed back up to him; she looked like a guilty little girl that had just done something wrong.

"I...I'm sorry." she sobbed, tears trailing from the corners of her scarlet-rimmed eyes. "I tried to stop him...I fought him...but I couldn't...I'm so sorry. Be...believe me. Please..."

Ash shook his head and stared lovingly at her, brushing the tears away with his thumb.

"It's gonna be all right. You don't have anything to be sorry for." he murmured, gently kissing her forehead. "We're gonna get through this, okay?"

In reality, he didn't know how the hell this was gonna end. Nitaliyah shook her head weakly. He saw her lower lip began to quiver, and more tears began to spill.

"The damage has been done." she whispered. "I've been bitten. I'm turning. He...defiled me, Ashley. My father... he'll hate me."

He could see the pain in her eyes. Ash knew how much her pride meant to her, and how she couldn't possibly live with the stigma of being considered a victim. He knew she was hurt, but part of him felt like he could help her. Like he could make all this okay. He could bring her to the future, to 1993, back to Michigan. He could get her some professional help.

"No, he won't, Nitaliyah." he whispered. "Your dad loves you. Hell...I love you. I don't care what happened here. You're gonna get through this just fine."

Ash didn't have to hear her say it to know the feeling was mutual. Nitaliyah's limp hand found its way to his, squeezing as tightly as her limited strength allowed her to. She looked up at him through her tears and smiled warmly, beautifully. He smiled back, once again fighting the urge to cry. He never told her that she looked nothing short of an angel when she smiled.

Instinctively, Ash lowered his lips to hers, feeling the slight pressure of her kissing him back. He could almost feel the life slipping out of her and he clutched her hand. Ash pulled his face back from hers and began to gently stroke her cheek. The gorgeous spark in her eyes had completely gone by now, the last of its embers extinguished by the Reaper's cruel frost.

She was somehow paler, and small pouches of dark skin were beginning to develop under her eyes. She looked like a cancer patient in the last stages of battle. Her breathing was heavier and more labored. Nitaliyah was dying. Still, he clutched her hand in his. He was in the process holding on to the many fantasies of having a nice little place outside of Dearborn, being married in a simple church ceremony, rubbing her pregnant belly, and having a little girl. Rose, Charlotte, Sophie, no, Violet...she'd love the name Violet.

Nitaliyah chuckled again, and her eyes trailed up to his. Despite the fact that she was bleeding to death, her eyes were dull and calm. She looked like she wasn't going to die at all; as if she was going on a vacation for a while.

"It's okay." she whispered, gently squeezing his fingers the way she had in the cavern. "As long as there's evil in the world, there will always be a van Helsing."

He stared down at her. A thin silver band decorated with small dragons shone brightly on her ring finger. She had never taken the ring off, and he never took his off. Ash squeezed her hand until there was no more strength left in the ravaged woman's body, and the slow beating of her heart had come to a complete stop. In an instant, her fingers turned into cold bones clenched in his fist. An unknown force had played the cruel joke of stealing the life from Nitaliyah, then leaving her hollow shell peacefully cradled in his arms. He stared down at Nitaliyah. Her eyes were closed, and she was curled inward against him, almost like a baby. She looked like she was asleep.

Salty tears stung the lower rims of his eyes as he stared out at the blood red moon before him. Ash pressed his forehead to hers and began to cry uncontrollably. He watched her die. He felt the life drain from her, and couldn't do a damn thing about it.

The loud crash of an opening door rocked the spacious bedroom, but Ash didn't notice. He didn't care. His attention was fixed on the dead woman in his arms. For the time being, it felt like he was in a vacuum; as if nothing else mattered. The one thing he wanted had been cruelly snatched away from him and tossed out like garbage. He pledged so long ago that he'd never let that happen again. After a few seconds, the only thing he could feel was the white-hot anger that he'd only felt a handful of times before. Right now, he didn't care if the whole damn world went up in flames.


	40. NEW CHAPTER: The Dark Angel Rises

Ash gently laid Nitaliyah on the floor, taking care to close her eyes and neatly cross her arms across her chest before he stood up on weakened knees. From where he stood, he could see Gabriel standing in the vestibule doorway. Ash felt his body move quickly, though his mind was still in shock. Honestly, part of him still thought that Nitaliyah was still alive. That she was just waiting to pop out of the shadows and do something stupid, like smack him for taking the Lord's name in vain or calling her 'sweetheart'. Part of him began to hurt more. The old man. She was his anchor; his rock. The old man wouldn't want to see her like this; hell, she wouldn't want her father to see her like this.

He lifted his head and saw the old man's eyes widen in terror from across the room. He had never seen such a fearful look on Gabriel's face.

"NO! NO! NO!" the older man screamed.

Gabriel ran through the vestibule like a bat out of hell. Ash caught Gabriel, stopping him from reaching his daughter's mutilated body. As much as he strained, Gabriel kept pushing; the old man's rage increased his strength tenfold.

"She's gone, Gabriel." Ash grunted.

"TO HELL WITH YOU!"

The older man broke free of Ash's grasp and delivered a crushing blow to his face, so fierce that Gabriel felt a few bones in his hand break and both men drew blood. Ashley was knocked to the floor in a daze, his hand instinctively clutching his bleeding head. He watched as the old man staggered towards the large bed in disbelief. An unseen force swept Gabriel's legs from beneath him, and he dropped to his knees, weeping. The old man took his daughter's corpse into his hands and began to lovingly cradle her as he did when she was a little girl.

Gabriel kissed her stone cold forehead and cradled her head next to his chest.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry," he sobbed deeply into her hair, rocking back and forth like a madman. "Forgive me, Emmelianne…Papa's sorry…"

He remembered the days when he was an apprentice in the Holy Order, and how much he always regretted leaving Sophia and Nitaliyah for months on end. He remembered returning home from assignments on holidays, and how Nitaliyah's eyes would shine with joy whenever she saw her father come through the door. Between the dangerous assignments, he wasn't Europe's Most Wanted Man; he was a loving husband and father to an amazing woman and a wonderful little girl. Now he had neither. Both of their bright, beautiful flames had been put out in their prime. They were both cruelly taken away from him in two disgusting acts of violence by Vladimir Dracula. And he couldn't save them.

Through his tears, Gabriel's eyes were fixed out at the starless night before him. It was cold, empty, and frightening. In the darkness, saw the eyes. Those same eyes that hurt poor Sophia years ago, and had ravaged his poor little Nitaliyah only hours before. The eyes taunted him; reminding him that no matter how hard Gabriel fought, no matter how much good he did, he would always lose, and the few people he loved would die horrible, undignified deaths. He would be cursed to roam the world witnessing the happiness of others, while having none of his own; watching those few he found peace with wither away and die. His life was merely a cycle. A dead, depressing cycle to which there was no end or relief.

The mortal part of him broke for the very last time.

Gabriel suddenly felt his skin burning, and an excruciating pain crashed into the center of his back. His head began to burn feverishly, so much that he clawed at his neck in an attempt to rid himself of the wretched heat. Gabriel's body arched backwards and he let out a devilish scream, searing tears trailing down his contorted face as he hoarsely cursed the very God who had afflicted him so long ago. In his extreme discomfort, Gabriel ripped his shirt completely off, exposing the many red veins coursing through his muscular upper body. The older man's heart was literally beating out of his chest, pumping an ice-cold mixture through his feverish veins. From where he sat, he could see what looked like Gabriel's heart pulsating_ through his back_.

After a few minutes of hellish screaming, Gabriel slumped forward. An unnatural silence filled the bedroom, and Ash was left in shock once again. He stood up and walked toward where the old man knelt, his daughter still in his arms. As he was about to touch Gabriel's shoulder, Gabriel's head shot up, sending a chill down Ash's spine.

"Start running." The old man growled in a demonic voice.

Before Ashley could reply, Gabriel's head turned to face him. His eyes were replaced by soulless, bright red cataracts. His teeth had become sharpened, and the harsh moonlight made them appear a dull pink color. Red smoke poured from his mouth with every breath, and thin plumes of smoke spouted from his nostrils. Gabriel's eyebrows furrowed downward and he snarled, his sharp teeth coming together in a terrifying glare.

"START RUNNING!" he roared, his hellish voice echoing around the chamber.

This was no time to try to talk sense into the man. Ash wasted no time and bolted for the exit. By the time he made it to the other side of the room, Ash collapsed with his back to the door. His eyes widened as he saw Gabriel convulsing once again; his back arched back and forth and Ash could see the old man's back contracting. His eyes widened when he saw the ripples in Gabriel's flesh began to open slowly, and large black wings sprouted from his back. The new appendages were limp and folded, and looked like dark road maps against Gabriel's pale skin.

After a minute or so, Gabriel stood up from the floor, still convulsing. From the distance, he could tell he was still holding Nitaliyah's body. As he stood, his wings folded outwards to about ten feet on both sides of him. They were shining obsidian, with tiny dark veins coursing through the grey translucent flesh. Ash stared ahead of him, his mouth agape. This was the type of thing he had only seen in movies.

Gabriel squatted to the floor and leaped towards the wall, his wings trailing behind him. A deafening crash ruptured from the side of the room, and Ash felt the floor literally shake beneath his feet. Within seconds, a thick fog of opaque dust clouded the area, blowing dust and shards both into the castle and into the freezing night air. For a time, all Ash could hear and breathe was broken glass and wood. The dryness of the dust stung his eyes, causing him to double over and his eyes become wet with involuntary tears. When the chaos cleared, all he could see was darkness. No more stone, no more large rectangular windows, no more stupid dragon motifs decorating the walls. Hell, no more walls, for that matter. Dracula's bedroom, the place Nitaliyah was forcibly defiled in, her tomb, was no more; the only thing left of it was a few feet beyond where Ashley stood.

Apparently, the force of Gabriel's inhumanly strong body colliding against the stone wall was so great that the room shifted and simply broke off. The bedroom completely detached from the rest of the castle and toppled into the abyss below them in a disastrous collage of stone, glass, wood, and destroyed furniture. Ashley could hear the faint sound of crashing on the rocks below. He glanced up from the vestibule floor into the night. By the light of the blood red moon, he saw Gabriel's massive wings in the distance, rapidly propelling him towards the tallest spire in Dracula's castle. In flight, he heard the old man emit a disturbing screech; one he had heard before. It was a deeper version of the one he had heard when Nitaliyah shot Marishka, and when he had impaled Aleera. He couldn't believe it.

It was the battle cry of a vampire.


End file.
